THE LIFE 

OF 

REV. JOHN WESLEY, A. M., 

I 

SOMETIME FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, 

FOUNDER OP THE METHODIST SOCIETIES 
BY RICHARD WATSON. 



[In labors more abundantly.] 

FIRST AMERICAN OFFICIAL EDITION, 
WITH TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES, 

BY JOHN EMORY. 



(Hinrinnati: 

PUBLISHED BY L. SWORMSTEDT & A. POE, 

FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AT THE WESTERN BOOK CONCERN 
CORNER OF MAIN AND EIGHTH STREETS. 



R. P. THOMPSON, PRINTER. 
1855. 



V 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 183], 
BY J. EMORY & B. WAUGH, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 



Gift from 
Mrs. Etta F. Wintei* 
Sept. 20 1932 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Mr. Wesley's Parentage — Mrs. Susannah Wesley — Samuel Wesley, 
jr. — Mr. Wesley at School and College — Religious Impressions and In- 
quiries — Ordination — College Honors — Charles Wesley's early Life — 
Methodists at Oxford — Origin of the name Methodist. Page 7 

CHAPTER II. 

The Wesleys at Oxford — Their efforts to do good — Opposition — Cor- 
respondence with Mr. Wesley, sen. — Mr. Samuel W r esley and Mrs. Wes- 
ley — Mr. John Wesley refuses to settle at Epworth — Remarks — Death of 
•Mr. Wesley, sen. — The Wesleys engage to go out to Georgia — Letter of 
Mr. Gambold 19 

CHAPTER III. 

The Wesleys on their Voyage — Intercourse with the Moravians — Con- 
duct, Troubles, and Sufferings in Georgia — Affair of Miss Hopkey — Mr. 
Wesley returns to England 40 

CHAPTER IV. 

Mr. Wesley's Review of his religious Experience — Trouble of Mind — 
Interview with Peter Bohler — Receives the doctrine of Justification by 
Faith — Preaches it — Mr. Charles Wesley's religious Experience — Re- 
marks 54 

CHAPTER V. 

State of Religion in the Nation — Mr. Wesley's Visit to Germany — Re- 
turn to England — His Labors in London — Meets with Mr. Whitefield — 
Dr. Woodward's Societies — Mr. Charles Wesley's Labors — Field Preach- 
ing — Remarks. 70 

CHAPTER VI. 

Effect of the Labors of the Messrs. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield at 
Kings wood — Mr. Wesley at Bath — Statement of his doctrinal Views — 
Separates from the Moravians in London — Formation of the Methodist So- 
ciety — Mr. Wesley's Mother — Correspondence between Mr. John and 
Mr. Samuel Wesley on extraordinary Emotions, and the Doctrine of As- 
surance — Remarks — Enthusiasm — Divine Influence — Difference between 
Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield— Their Reconciliation— Mr. Maxfield — 
Mr. Wesley's Defense of his calling out Preachers to assist him in his 
Work— Remarks 86 

3 



4 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Persecution in London — Institution of Classes — Mr. Wesley charged 
with being a Papist — His Labors in Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Lin- 
colnshire — Death of Mrs. Susannah Wesley — Labors and Persecutions 
of Mr. Charles Wesley in Staffordshire and Yorkshire — Increase of the 
Societies — Mr. Wesley's Danger and Escape at Wednesbury — His firstl 
Visit to Cornwall — Riots in Staffordshire — Preaches for the last time 
before the University of Oxford — Correspondence with the Rev. J. Er- 
skine — His Sermon on "A Catholic Spirit * r — First Conference held — - 
Remarks Page 113 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Mr. Charles Wesley's Labors in Cornwall, Kent, Staffordshire, and the 
north of England — Persecution at Devizes — Remarks — Mr. Wesley at 
Newcastle — His Statement of the Case between the Clergy and the Meth- 
odists — Remaiks — Labors in Lincolnshire, etc. — Persecutions in Corn- 
wall — Count Zinzendorf — Dr. Doddridge — Mr. Wesley a Writer of 
Tracts — His Sentiments on Church Government — Extract from the 
Minutes of the early Conferences — Remarks — Mr. Wesley's Labors in 
different parts of the Kingdom — His zeal to diffuse useful Knowledge — 
Mobs in Devonshire — Visits Ireland — Succeeded there by his Brother — 
Persecutions in Dublin • 139 

CHAPTER IX. 

Labors of the Preachers — Doctrinal Conversations of the Conferences — 
Justification — Repentance — Faith — Assurance — Remarks — Fruits of j usti- 
fying Faith — Sanctification — Witness of the Spirit — Remarks — Spirit in 
which Mr. Wesley sought Truth — Miscellaneous Extracts from the Min- 
utes of the Early Conferences — Notices of the Deaths of Preachers — Re- 
marks 173 

CHAPTER X. 

Early List of Circuits — Mr. Charles Wesley in London — Earthquake 
there — Differences between Mr. Charles Wesley and the Preachers — Re- 
marks — Respective Views of the Brothers — Mr. Wesley's Marriage — Mr. 
Perronet — Kingswood School — Remarks — Mr. Wesley visits Scotland — 
Letters — Sickness — Mr. Whitefield's Letter to him in Anticipation of his 
Death — Mr. Wesley's Remarks on Books — His Address to the Clergy — ■ 
Remarks — Hervey's Letters 216 

CHAPTER XI. 

Methodism in America — Revivals of Religion — Remarks — Mr. Wes- 
ley's Labors — Notices of Books from his Journals — Minutes of the Con- 
ference of 1770 — Remarks — Mr. Shirley's Circular — Mr. Wesley's "Dec- 
laration" — Controversy respecting the Minutes — Remarks — Increase of 
the Societies — Projects for the Management of the Connection after Mr. 
Weslev's Death 239 



CONTEXTS. 



5 



CHAPTER XII. 

Mr. Wesley's Sickness in Ireland — Letter to the Commissioners of Ex- 
cise — Visit to the Isle of Man — Opening of City Road Chapel — 14 Arminian 
Magazine" — Disputes in the Society at Bath — Mr. Wesley's Letter to 
a Nobleman — His Visit to Holland. — "Deed of Declaration" — Re- 
marks Page 272 

CHAPTER XIII. 

State of the Societies in America — Ordination of Superintendents and 
Elders for the American Societies — Remarks — Dr. Coke — Mr. Asbury — 
Mr. Charles Wesley's Remonstrances — Ordinations for Scotland — Re- 
marks — Mr. Wesley's second Visit to Holland — His Labors in England, 
Ireland, and the Norman Isles — Return to London — Remarks — Extract 
from a Sermon by Bishop Coplestone — Mr. Wesley's Reflections on the 
progress of the Work, and on entering his eighty-fifth year 288 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Death of Mr. Charles Wesley — His Character — His Hymns — Re- 
marks — Mr. Montgomery's "Psalmist" — Anecdote of the Rev. Samuel 
Wesley, sen.. — Mr. Wesley's continued Labors — Reflections on enter- 
ing his eighty-eighth Year — Last Sickness — Death — Funeral — Epitaph. — 
Sketches of his Character by different Writers 324 

CHAPTER XV. 

Mr. W esley and the Church — Modern Methodism and the Church — 
Charges refuted — Mr. Wesley's Writings — Extent of the Methodist So- 
cieties at his death, and at the present time — Conclusion 363 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



VARIOUS Lives or Memoirs of the Founder of Methodism have already 
been laid before the public. But it has been frequently remarked that 
such of these as contain the most approved accounts of Mr. Wesley, have 
been carried out to a length which obstructs their circulation, by the inter- 
mixture of details comparatively uninteresting beyond the immediate circle 
of Wesleyan Methodism. The present Life, therefore, without any design 
to supersede larger publications, has been prepared with more special ref- 
erence to general readers. But, as it is contracted within moderate limits 
chiefly by the exclusion of extraneous matter, it will, it is hoped, be found 
sufficiently comprehensive to give the reader an adequate view of the life, 
labors, and opinions of the eminent individual who is its subject; and to 
afford the means of correcting the most material errors and misrepresent- 
ations which have had currency respecting him. On several points the 
author has had the advantage of consulting unpublished papers, not known 
to preceding biographers, and which have enabled him to place some 
particulars in a more satisfactory light. 

London, May 10, 1831. 



ADVERTISEMENT TO THIS EDITION. 

In this edition, translations are given of such passages in the dead 
languages as are left untranslated in the London edition. It is enlarged, 
too, and we hope enriched, by a variety of notes, on points of peculiar 
importance in an American edition. The price, nevertheless, is so ex- 
tremely low as to be justified solely by the confident anticipation of very 
extensive sales. The profits, if any — as of all other publications from the 
Methodist Episcopal Press — will be scrupulously applied to the spread of 
the Gospel , and to strictly-charitable objects. 



THE LIFE 



OF 

REV. JOHN WESLEY, A. M. 

CHAPTER I. 

John and Charles Wesley, the chief founders of that 
religious body now commonly known by the name of the 
Wesleyan Methodists, were the sons of Rev. Samuel Wes- 
ley, rector of Ep worth, in Lincolnshire. 

Of this clergyman, and his wife, Mrs. Susannah Wesley, 
who was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Annesley, as well as of 
the ancestors of both, an interesting account will be found 
in Dr. Adam Clarke's "Memoirs of the Wesley Family," 
and in the "Life of Mr. John Wesley" by Dr. Whitehead, 
and the more recent one by Mr. Moore. They will be 
noticed here only so far as a general knowledge of their 
character may be necessary to assist our judgment as to 
the opinions and conduct of their more celebrated sons. 

The rector of Epworth, like his excellent wife, had de- 
scended from parents distinguished for learning, piety, and 
non-conformity. His father dying while he was young, he 
forsook the Dissenters at an early period of life; and his 
conversion carried him into High Church principles, and 
political toryism. He was not, however, so rigid in the 
former as to prevent him from encouraging the early zeal 
of his sons, John and Charles, at Oxford, although it was 
even then somewhat irregular, when tried by the strictest 
rules of Church order and custom; and his toryism, suffi- 
ciently high in theory, was yet of that class which regarded 

7 



6 



THE LIFE OF 



the rights of the subject tenderly in practice. He refused 
flattering overtures made by the adherents of James II, to 
induce him to support the measures of the court, and wrote 
in favor of the revolution of 1688; admiring it, probably, 
less in a political view than as rescuing a Protestant Church 
from the dangerous influence of a Popish head. For this 
service he was presented with the living of Epworth, in 
Lincolnshire, to which, a few years afterward, was added 
that of Wroote, in the same county. 

He held the living of Epworth upward of forty years, and 
was distinguished for the zeal and fidelity with which he 
discharged his parish duties. Of his talents and learning, 
his remaining works afford honorable evidence. 

Mrs. Susannah Wesley, the mother of Mr. John Wesley, 
was, as might be expected from the eminent character of 
Dr. Samuel Annesley, her father, educated with great 
care. Like her husband, she also, at an early period of 
life, renounced non-conformity, and became a member of the 
Established Church, after, as her biographers tell us, she 
had read and mastered the whole controversy on the sub- 
ject of separation; of which, however, great as were her 
natural and acquired talents, she must, at the age of thir- 
teen years, have been a very imperfect judge. The serious 
habits impressed upon both by their education, did not for- 
sake them; "they feared God, and wrought righteous- 
ness;" but we may perhaps account for that obscurity in 
the views of each on several great points of evangelical 
religion, and especially on justification by faith, and the 
offices of the Holy Spirit, which hung over their minds for 
many years, mid indeed till toward the close of life, from 
this early change of their religious connections. Their 
theological reading, according to the fashion of the Church 
people of that day, was now directed rather to the writings 
of those divines of the English Church who were tinctured 
more or less with a Pelagianized Arminianism, than to the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



9 



works of its founders; their successors, the Puritans; or of 
those eminent men among the JSTon- Conformists, whose 
views of discipline they had renounced. They had parted 
with Calvinism; but, like many others, they renounced with 
it, for want of spiritual* discrimination, those truths which 
were as fully maintained in the theology of Arminius, and 
in that of their eminent son, who revived, and more fully 
illustrated it, as in the writings of the most judicious and 
spiritual Calvinistic divines themselves. Taylor, Tillotson, 
and Bull, who became their oracles, were Arminians of a 
different class. 

The advantage of such a parentage to the Wesleys was 
great. From their earliest years they had an example in 
the father of all that could render a clergyman respectable 
and influential; and in the mother there was a sanctified 
wisdom, a masculine understanding, and an acquired 
knowledge, which they regarded with just deference after 
they became men and scholars. The influence of a piety 
so steadfast and uniform, joined to such qualities, and 
softened by maternal tenderness, could scarcely fail to pro- 
duce effect. The firm and manly character, the practical 
sense, the active and unwearied habits of the father, with 
the calm, reflecting, and stable qualities of the mother, 
were in particular inherited by Mr. John Wesley, and in 
him were most happily blended. A large portion of the 
ecclesiastical principles and prejudices of the rector of Ep- 
worth was also transmitted to his three sons; but while 
Samuel and Charles retained them least impaired, in John, 
as we shall see, they sustained in future life considerable 
modifications. 

Samuel, the eldest son, was born in 1692; John, in 1703; 
and Charles, in 1708. 

Samuel Wesley, junior, was educated at Westminster 
school, and in 1711 was elected to Christ Church, Oxford. 
He was eminent for his learning, and was an excellent 



10 



THE LIFE OF 



poet, with great power of satire, and an elegant wit. He 
held a considerable rank among the literary men of the 
day, and finally settled as head master of the free school of 
Tiverton, in Devonshire, where he died in 1739, in his 
forty -ninth year. 

Mrs. Wesley was - the instructress of her children in their 
early years. "I can find," says Dr. Whitehead, "no evi- 
dence that the boys were ever put to any school in the 
country, their mother having a very bad opinion of the 
common methods of instructing and governing children." 
She was particularly led, it Tvould seem, to interest herself 
in John, who, when he was about six years old, had a 
providential and singular escape from being burned to 
death, upon the parsonage house being consumed.* There 
is a striking passage in one of her private meditations, 
which contains a reference to this event, and indicates that 
she considered it as laying her under a special obligation 
"to be more particularly careful of the soul of a child 
whom God had so mercifully provided for." The effect of 
this special care on the part of the mother was, that, under 
the Divine blessing, he became early serious; for at the 
age of eight years he was admitted by his father to par- 
take of the sacrament. In 1714 he was placed at the 
Charter House, "where he was noticed for his diligence,, 
and progress in learning." (Whitehead's Life.) "Here, 
for his quietness, regularity, and application, he became a 
favorite with the master, Dr. Walker; and through life he 
retained so great a predilection for the place, that on his 
annual visit to London, he made it a custom to walk through 
the scene of his boyhood. To most men, every year woul<? 
render a pilgrimage of this kind more painful than the last 

* The memory of his deliverance, on this occasion, is preserved in one f 
his early portraits, which has, below the head, the representation of 
house in flames, with the motto, " Is not this a brand plucked from 
burning ?" 



I 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



1 I 



but Wesley seems never to have looked back with melan- 
choly upon the days that were gone; earthly regrets of this 
kind could find no room in one who was continually press- 
ing onward to the goal." (Southey's Life.) When he 
had attained his seventeenth year, he was elected to Christ 
Church, Oxford, " where he pursued his studies with great 
advantage, I believe under the direction of Dr. Wigan, a 
gentleman eminent for his classical knowledge. Mr. Wes- 
ley's natural temper in his youth was gay and sprightly, 
with a turn for wit and humor. When he was about 
twenty-one years of age, 'he appeared/ as Mr. Babcock 
has observed, 'the very sensible and acute collegian; a 
young fellow of the finest classical taste, of the most liberal 
and manly sentiments/ (Westminster Magazine.) His 
perfect knowledge of the classics gave a smooth polish to 
his wit, and an air of superior elegance to all his composi- 
tions. He had already begun to amuse himself occasion- 
ally with writing verses, though most of his poetical pieces, 
at this period, were, I believe, either imitations or transla- 
tions of the Latin. Some time in this year, however, he 
wrote an imitation of the sixty-fifth Psalm, which he sent 
to his father, who says, ' I like your verses on the sixty- 
fifth Psalm, and would not have you bury your talent.' " 
(Whitehead's Life.) 

Some time after this, when purposing to take deacon's 
orders, he was roused from the religious carelessness into 
which he had fallen at college, and applied himself dili- 
gently to the reading of divinity. This more thoughtful 
frame appears to have been indicated in his letters to his 
mother, with whom he kept up a regular correspondence; 
for she replies, "The alteration of your temper has occa- 
sioned me much speculation. I, who am apt to be san- 
guine, hope it may proceed from the operations of God's 
Holy Spirit, that, by taking off your relish for earthly 
enjoyments, he may prepare and dispose your mind for a 



V2 



THE LIFE OF 



more serious and close application to things of a more sub- 
lime and spiritual nature. If it be so, happy are you if 
you cherish those dispositions; and now, in good earnest, 
resolve to make religion the business of your life ; for, after 
all, that is the one thing which, strictly speaking, is neces- 
sary: all things Reside are comparatively little to the pur- 
poses of life. I heartily wish you would now enter upon 
a strict examination of yourself, that you may know 
whether you have a reasonable hope of salvation by Jesus 
Christ. If you have, the satisfaction of knowing it will 
abundantly reward your pains; if you have not, you wilJ 
find a more reasonable occasion for tears than can be met 
with in a tragedy. This matter deserves great considera- 
tion by all, but especially by those designed for the minis- 
try, who ought, above all things, to make their own calling 
and election sure, lest, after they have preached to others, 
they themselves should be cast away." 

This excellent advice was not lost upon him; and indeed 
his mother's admirable letters were among the principal 
means, under God, of producing that still more decided 
change in his views which soon afterward began to display 
itself. He was now about twenty-two years of age. 

The practical books most read by him at this period, 
which was probably employed as a course of preparation for 
holy orders, were, "The Christian's Pattern," by Thomas 
a Kempis; and Bishop Taylor's "Rules of Holy Living and 
Dying;" and his correspondence with his parents respect- 
ing these authors shows how carefully he was weighing 
their merits, and investigating their meaning, as regarding 
them in the light of spiritual instructors. The letters of 
his mother on the points offered to her consideration by 
her son, show, in many respects, a deeply-thinking and 
discriminating mind; but they are also in" proof that both 
she and her husband had given up their acquaintance, if 
they ever had any, with works which might have been 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



13 



recommended as much more suitable to the state of their 
son's mind, and far superior as a directory to true Chris- 
tianity. This to him would have been infinitely more im- 
portant than discussing the peculiar views, and adjusting 
the proportion of excellency and defect, which may be 
found in such a writer as Kempis, whose " Christian's Pat- 
tern" is, where in reality excellent, a manual rather for 
him who is a Christian already, than for him who is seek- 
ing to become one. 

A few things are, however, to be remarked in this cor- 
respondence which are of considerable interest, as showing 
the bearings of Mr. Wesley's views as to those truths of 
which he afterward obtained a satisfactory conviction, and 
then so clearly stated and defended. 

The son, in writing to his mother on Bishop Taylor's 
book, states several particulars which Bishop Taylor makes 
necessary parts of humility and repentance; one of which, 
in reference to humility, is, that "we must be sure, in some 
sense or other, to think ourselves the worst in every com- 
pany where we come." And in treating of repentance, he 
says, "Whether God has forgiven us or no, we know not; 
therefore, be sorrowful for ever having sinned." "I take 
the more notice of this last sentence," says Mr. Wesley, 
"because it seems to contradict his own words in the next- 
section, where he says, that by the Lord's supper all the 
members are united to one another, and to Christ, the 
head. The Holy Ghost confers on us the graces necessary 
for, and our souls receive the seeds of, an immortal nature. 
Now, surely, these graces are not of so little force as that 
we can not perceive whether we have them or not: if we 
dwell in Christ, and Christ in us, which he will not do 
unless we are regenerate, certainly we must be sensible of 
it. If we can never have any certainty of our being in a 
state of salvation, good reason it is that every moment 
should be spent, not in joy, but in fear and trembling; and 

2 



14 



THE LIFE OF 



tlien undoubtedly, in this life, we are of all men most mis- 
erable. God deliver us from such a fearful expectation as 
this! Humility is, undoubtedly, necessary to salvation; 
and if all these things are essential to humility, who can 
be humble? who can be saved?' ' 

The mother, in reply, suggests to him some good thoughts 
and useful distinctions on the subject of humility; but 
omits to afford him any assistance on the point of the pos- 
sibility of obtaining a comfortable persuasion of being in a 
state of salvation, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
which he already discerned to be the privilege of a real 
believer, though as yet he was greatly perplexed as to the 
means of attaining it. At this period, too, he makes the 
important distinction between assurance of present, and 
assurance of future, salvation; by confounding which, so 
many, from their objection to the Calvinistic notion of the 
infallible perseverance of the saints, have given up the doc- 
trine of assurance altogether. "That we can never be so 
certain of the pardon of our sins as to be assured they will 
never rise up against us, I firmly believe. We know that 
they will infallibly do so if ever we apostatize; and I am not 
satisfied what evidence there can be of our final perse- 
verance, till we have finished our course. But I am per- 
suaded we may know if we are now in a state of salvation, 
since that is expressly promised In the holy Scriptures to 
our sincere endeavors; and we are surely able to judge of 
our own sincerity." 

The latter part of this extract will, however, show how 
much he had yet to learn as to "the way to the Father." 
Mrs. Wesley also corrects a defective definition of faith, 
which her son's letter had contained, in the following sen- 
sible remarks, which are just, as far as they go, but below 
the true Scriptural standard, and the proper conception of 
that saving faith after which her son was inquiring: " You 
are somewhat mistaken in your notions of faith. All faith 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



15 



is an assent, but all assent is not faith. Some truths are 
self-evident, and we assent to them because they are so. 
Others, after a regular and formal process of reason, bv 
way of deduction from some self-evident principle, gain 
our assent. This is not properly faith, but science. Some 
again we assent to, not because they are self-evident, or 
because we have attained the knowledge of them in a 
regular method by a train of arguments, but because they 
have been revealed to us, either by God or man; and these 
are the proper objects of faith. The true measure of faith 
is the authority of the revealer, the weight of which always 
holds proportion to our conviction of his ability and integ- 
rity. Divine faith is an assent to whatever God has re- 
vealed to us, because he has revealed it." 

Predestination was another subject touched upon in this 
interesting correspondence. Mr. Wesley was probably led 
to it by his review of the Articles of the Church previous 
to his ordination, and he thus expresses himself on this 
controverted subject: "What, then, shall I say of predes- 
tination? An everlasting purpose of God to deliver some 
from damnation, does, I suppose, exclude all from that 
deliverance who are not chosen. And if it was inevitably 
decreed from eternity that such a determinate part of man- 
kind should be saved, and none beside them, a vast ma- 
jority of the world were only born to eternal death, with- 
out so much as a possibility of avoiding it. How is this 
consistent with either the Divine justice or mercy? Is it 
merciful to ordain a creature to everlasting misery? Is it 
just to punish a man for crimes which he could not but 
commit? That God should be the author of sin and injus- 
tice, which must, I think, be the consequence of maintain- 
ing this opinion, is a contradiction to the clearest ideas we 
have of the Divine nature and perfections." (Whitehead's 
Life.) 

From these views he never departed; and the terms he 



(6 



THE LIFE OF 



uses contain indeed the only rational statement of the 
whole question. 

He was ordained deacon in September, 1725, and the 
year following was elected fellow of Lincoln College. His 
previous seriousness had been the subject of much banter 
and ridicule, and appears to have been urged against him, 
in the election, by his opponents; but his reputation for 
learning and diligence, and the excellence of his character 
triumphed; and, what was probably to him the greates 
pleasure, he had the gratification of seeing the joy this 
event gave to his venerable parents, and which was em- 
phatically expressed in their letters. Several specimens 
of his poetry, composed about this time, are given by his 
biographers, which show that, had he cultivated that de- 
partment of literature, he would not have occupied an 
inferior place among the tasteful and elegant votaries of 
verse; but he soon found more serious and more useful 
employment. 

He spent the summer after his election to the fellowship 
with his parents, in Lincolnshire, and took that opportunity 
of conversing with them at large upon those serious topics 
which then fully occupied his mind. In September he 
returned to Oxford, and resumed his usual studies. "His 
literary character was now established in the university; 
he was acknowledged by all parties to be a man of talents, 
and an excellent critic in the learned languages. His 
compositions were distinguished by an elegant simplicity 
of style, and justness of thought, that strongly marked 
the excellence of his classical taste. His skill in logic, or 
the art of reasoning, was universally known and admired. 
The high opinion that was entertained of him in these 
respects was soon publicly expressed, by choosing him 
Greek lecturer, and moderator of the classes, on the 7th 
of November; though he had only been elected fellow of 
the college in March, was little more than twenty -three 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



17 



years of age, and had not proceeded master of arts.'' 
(Whitehead's Life.) He took this degree in February, 
1727; became his father's curate in August the same 
year; returned to Oxford in 1728, to obtain priest's orders, 
and paid another visit to Oxford in 1729; where, during 
his stay, he attended the meetings of a small society 
formed by his brother Charles, Mr. Morgan, and a few- 
others, to assist each other in their studies, and to consult 
how to employ their time to the best advantage. 

After about a month, he returned to Ep worth; but 
upon Dr. Morley, the rector of his college, requiring his 
residence, he quitted his father's curacy, and in Xovember 
again settled in Oxford. He now obtained pupils, and 
became tutor in the college; presided as moderator in the 
disputations six times a week; and had the chief direction 
of a religious society. From this time he stood more 
prominently forward in his religious character, and in 
efforts to do good to others; and began more fully to 
prove that "they that will live godly in Christ Jesus must 
suffer persecution." It is, however, necessary to turn to 
the history of Mr. Charles Wesley, whose labors in the 
early periods of Methodism were inferior only to those of 
his brother. 

Charles Wesley was, as above stated, five years younger 
than his brother John; and was educated at Westminster 
school, under his eldest brother, Samuel, from whom he 
is said to have derived a still stronger tincture of High 
Church principles than was imbibed under the paternal 
roof. "When he had been some years at school, Mr. R. 
Wesley, a gentleman of large fortune in Ireland, wrote to 
his father, and asked if he had any son named Charles; 
if so, he would make him his heir. Accordingly, a gentle- 
man in London brought money for his education several 
years. But one year another gentleman called, probably 

Mr. Wesley himself, talked largely with him, and asked if 

2* 



18 



THE LIFE OF 



he was willing to go with him to Ireland. Mr. Charles 
desired to write to his father, who answered immediately, 
and referred it to his own choice. He chose to stay in 
England." (Whitehead's Life, vol. i, p. 93.) "Mr. John 
Wesley, in his account of his brother, calls this a fair 
escape. The fact is more remarkable than he was aware 
of; for the person who inherited the property intended for 
Charles Wesley, and who took the name of Wesley, or 
Wellesley, in consequence, was the first Earl of Morning- 
ton, grandfather of Marquis Wellesley and the Duke of 
Wellington." (Sou they 's Life.) 

The lively disposition of Charles, although he pursued 
his studies diligently, and was unblamable in his conduct, 
repelled all those exhortations to a more strict!)' -religious 
course which John seriously urged upon him, after he was 
elected to Christ Church. During his brother's absence, 
as his father's curate, his letters, however, became more 
grave; and when Mr. John Wesley returned to Oxford, 
in November, 1729, "I found him," he observes, '-'in great 
earnestness to save his soul." His own account of him- 
self is, that he lost his first year at college in diversions; 
that the next, he set himself to study; that diligence led 
him into serious thinking; that he went to the weekly 
sacrament, persuading two or three students to accompany 
him; and that he observed the method of study pre- 
scribed by the statutes of the university. "This," says 
he, "gained me the harmless name of Methodist"* Thus 

* From the name of an ancient sect of physicians, say some of Mr. 
Wesley's biographers; but probably the wits of Oxford, who imposed 
the name, knew nothing of that sect of the middle ages. The Non-Con- 
formists were often called, in derision, Methodists; and the name was 
probably transmitted from them; or it might be given merely from the 
rigid adherence to method in study by Mr. Charles Wesley. It is, how- 
ever, somewhat worthy of notice, that before the times of non-conformity, 
properly so called, we find Methodists mentioned as one of the minor 
sects in conjunction with the Anabaptists; for, as early as 1639, in a 
sermon preached at Lambeth, they are rated in good sft style for 



REV. JOHK WESLEY. 



19 



it appears that Charles was the first modern Methodist, 
and that he in fact laid the foundations of the religious so- 
ciety which continues to be distinguished by that appella- 
tion. To this society Mr. John Wesley joined himself on 
his return to reside at Oxford; and by his influence and 
energy gave additional vigor to their exertions to promote 
their own spiritual improvement and the good of others. 
The union of system and efficiency which this association 
presented well accorded with his practical and governing 
mind; and, no doubt, under the leadings of a superior 
agency, of which he was unconscious, he was thus train- 
ing himself to those habits of regular and influential exer- 
ts o 

tion and enterprise which subsequently rendered him the 
instrument of a revival of religion throughout the land. 
Of the little society of which, by the mere force of his 
character, he thus became the head, Mr. Hervey, the 
author of the ' ' Meditations/ 9 and the celebrated White- 
field, were members. 



CHAPTER II. 

The strictly-religious profession which Mr. Wesley must 
now be considered as making at Oxford — a profession so 
strongly marked as to become matter of public notice, and 
accompanied with so much zeal as to excite both ridicule 
and opposition — requires to be carefully examined. After 

their aversion to rhetorical sermons: <; Where are now our Anabaptists 
and plain pack-staff Jilethodists. who esteem of all flowers of rhetoric 
in sermons no better than stinking weeds, and of all elegancies of 
speech no better than profane spells?" etc. Their fault in those days, 
it appears, was to prefer plain preaching; no bad compliment, though 
an undesigned one. The epithet used to describe them niav also 
intimate that they were plain in dress and manners. At a later period, 
in 1693, some of the Non-Conformists who had renounced the impu» 
tation of Christ's righteousness in justification, except in the merit of 



20 



THE LIFE OF 



all, lie thought himself to be but " almost/ ' and not "alto- 
gether," a Christian — a conclusion of a very perplexing 
kind to many who have set up themselves for better judges 
in his case than he himself. From a similar cause, we 
have seen St. Paul all but reproved by some divines for 
representing himself "as the chief of sinners," at the time 
when he was "blameless" as to "the righteousness of the 
law;" and, but for the courtesy due to an inspired man, he 
would, probably, in direct contradiction to his own words, 
have been pronounced the chief of saints; although his 
heart remained a total stranger to humility and charity. 

The Wesleys at Oxford were indeed not only in a higher 
but in an essentially -different state of religious experience 
from that of Saul of Tarsus, notwithstanding his array of 
legal zeal and external virtue; but if our views of personal 
religion must be taken from the New Testament, although 
as to men they were blameless and exemplary, yet, in 
respect to God, those internal changes had not taken place 
in them which it is the office of real Christianity to effect. 
They were, however, most sincere; they were "faithful 
in that which is little," and God gave them "the true 
riches." They "sought God with all their heart;" and 
they ultimately found him, but in a way which at that time 
"they knew not." The very writers, Bishop Taylor and 
Mr. Law, who so powerfully wrought upon their con- 
sciences, were among the most erring guides to that 
"peace of God which passeth all understanding," for 
which they sighed; and those celebrated divines, excelled 
by none for genius and eloquence, who could draw the 

it, and whose views were somewhat similar to those of the Wesleyan 
Methodists on the imputation of faith for righteousness, were called by 
their brethren, the New Methodists. They were not, however, a sect, 
but were so denominated from the new method which they took in stating 
the doctrine of justification. Thus we have a Calvinistic pamphlet, under 
this date, written against " the principles of the New Methodists in the 
great point of justification.'* 



REV. J OILS WESLEY. 



21 



picture of a practical piety so copious and exact in its 
external manifestations, were unable to teach that mystic 
connection of the branches with the vine, from which the 
only fruits which are of healthy growth and genuine flavor 
can proceed. Both are too defective in their views of faith, 
and of its object, the atonement of Christ, to be able to 
direct a penitent and troubled spirit into the way of salva- 
tion, and to show how all the principles and acts of truly 
Christian piety are sustained by a life of "faith in the Son 
of God." To this subject, however, Mr. Wesley's own 
account of himself will, subsequently, again call our 
attention. 

Bishop Taylor's chapter on purity of intention first con- 
vinced Mr. Wesley of the necessity of being holy in heart, 
as well as regular in his outward conduct; and having, 
for the first time, formed an acquaintance with a religious 
friend, "he began to alter the whole form of his conversa- 
tion, and to set in earnest upon a new life." "He com- 
municated every week. He watched against all sin, 
whether in word or deed, and began to aim at, and pray 
for, inward holiness," (Journal;) but still with a painful 
consciousness that he found not that which he so earnestly 
sought. His error, at this period, was drawn from his 
theological guides just mentioned; he either confounded 
sanctification with justification, that is, a real with a rela- 
tive change, or he regarded sanctification as a preparation 
for, and a condition of, justification. He had not yet 
learned the apostle's doctrine, the gratuitous justification 
of "the ungodly," when penitent, and upon the sole con- 
dition of believing in Christ; nor that upon this there fol- 
lows a "death" to all inward and outward sin; so that 
he who is so justified can "no longer continue therein," 
It is, however, deeply interesting to trace the progress of 
his mind through its agitations, inquiries, hopes, and fears, 
till the moment when he found that steadfast peace which 



22 



THE LIFE OF 



never afterward forsook him, but gave serenity to his 
countenance, and cheerfulness to his heart, to the last hour 
of a prolonged life. 

The effects of the strong impression which had been 
made upon him by the practical writings of Taylor and 
Law promptly manifested themselves. The discipline he 
maintained as a tutor over his pupils was more strict than 
the university had been accustomed to witness; and for 
this reason, that it was more deeply and comprehensively 
conscientious. He regarded himself as responsible to 
God for exerting himself co his utmost, not only to pro- 
mote their learning, but to regulate their moral habits, and 
to form their religious principles. Here his disciplinary 
habits had their first manifestation. He required them to 
rise very early; he directed their reading, and controlled 
their general conduct, by rules to which he exacted entire 
obedience. This was not well taken by the friends of 
some; but from others he received very grateful letters; 
and several of his pupils themselves were not insensible 
of the obligations they owed to him, not only on a re- 
ligious account, but for thus enabling them to reap the full 
advantages of that seat of learning, by restraining them 
from its dissipations. 

The little society of Methodists, as they were called, 
began now to extend its operations. When Mr. Wesley 
joined them, they committed its management to him, and 
he has himself stated its original members: 

"In November, 1729, four young gentlemen of Oxford, 
Mr. John Wesley, fellow of Lincoln College; Mr. Charles 
Wesley, student of Christ Church; Mr. Morgan, com- 
moner of Christ Church; and Mr. Kirkman, of Merton 
College, began to spend some evenings in a week together, 
in reading chiefly the Greek Testament. The next year, 
two or three of Mr. John Wesley's pupils desired the 
liberty of meeting with them; and afterward one of Mr. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



23 



Charles Wesley's pupils. It was in 1732 that Mr. Ing- 
ham, of Queen's College, and Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, 
were added to their number. To these, in April, was 
joined Mr. Clayton, of Brazen-nose, with two or three of 
his pupils. About the same time Mr. James Hervey was 
permitted to meet with them, and afterward Mr. White - 
fields (Journal.) 

Mr. Morgan led the way to their visiting the prisoners 
in the Oxford gaol, for the purpose of affording them re- 
ligious instruction. They afterward resolved to spend two 
or three hours a week in visiting and relieving the poor 
and the sick, generally, where the parish ministers did not 
object to it. This was, however, so novel a practice, and 
might be deemed by some so contrary to Church order, 
that Mr. Wesley consulted his father upon the point. Mr. 
Wesley, senior, answered the inquiry in a noble letter, 
equally honorable to his feelings as a father and a minis- 
ter of Christ. They had his full sanction for prosecuting 
their pious labors; he blessed God who had given him 
two sons together at Oxford, who had received grace and 
courage to turn the war against the world and the devil; 
he bids them defy reproach, and animates them in God's 
name to go on in the path to which their Savior had 
directed them. At the same time, he advises them to 
consult with the chaplain of the prison, and to obtain the 
approbation of the bishop. This high sanction was ob- 
tained; but it was not sufficient to screen them from the 
rebukes of the gravely lukewarm, or the malignantly 
vicious. Sarcasm and serious opposition robbed them of 
one of their number, who had not fortitude to bear the 
shafts of ridicule, or to resist the persuasion of friends; 
and the opposition being now headed by some persons of 
influence, Mr. Wesley had again recourse, by letter, to his 
father's counsel. The answer deserves to be transcribed 
at length: 

o 



/ 

24 THE LIFE OF 

"This day I received both yours, and this evening, in 
the course of our reading, I thought I found an answer that 
would be more proper than any I myself could dictate; 
though since it will not be easily translated, I send it in 
the original. Uo7%yj poi xav%qGis vrtep vfLuv' c^rt^pc^ucu t-rj 
&apax%rcf£i' vrtepTtspLtitisvofxai, #apa.* What would you be? 

Would you be angels? I question whether a mortal can 
arrive to a greater degree of perfection than steadily to do 
good, and for that very reason patiently and meekly to suf- 
fer evil. For my part, on the present view of your actions 
and designs, my daily prayers are, that God would keep 
you humble ; and then I am sure that if you continue ' to 
suffer for righteousness' sake/ though it be but in a lower 
degree, the Spirit of God and of glory shall in some good 
measure rest upon you. And you can not but feel such a 
satisfaction in your own minds as you would not part with 
for all the world. Be never weary of well doing; never 
look back, for you know the prize and the crown are before 
you; though I can scarce think so meanly of you, as that 
you should be discouraged with the 'crackling of thorns 
under a pot/ Be not high-minded, but fear. Preserve 
an equal temper of mind under whatever treatment you 
meet with, from a not very just or well-natured world. 
Bear no more sail than is necessary, but steer steady. 
The less you value yourselves for these unfashionable 
duties — as there is no such thing as works of supereroga- 
tion — the more all good and wise men will value you, if 
they see your works are all of a piece; or which is infi- 
nitely more, He by whom actions and intentions are 
weighed will both accept, esteem, and reward you. 

"I hear my son John has the honor of being styled the 
'Father of the Holy Club;' if it be so, I am sure I must 
be the grandfather of it; and I need not say, that I 

* 2 Cor. vii, 4. Great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort, 
I am exceeding- joyful.-— Authorized Version, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



25 



had rather any of my sons should be so dignified and 
distinguished than to have the title of His Holiness." 
(Whitehead's Life.) 

Thus encouraged they proceeded in their course with 
meekness and constancy; to relieve the poor they sacrificed 
all the superfluities, and sometimes the conveniences of 
life; and they redoubled their efforts to produce religious 
impressions upon their college acquaintances, as well as 
upon the ignorant, the poor, and the sick. The apology 
for these pious and praiseworthy efforts, which, on the 
increase of the outcry made against them, Mr. Wesley 
published in the modest form of queries, amply indicates 
the low state of religious feeling in the university; and we 
may well conclude with one of Mr. Wesley's biographers, 
that "a voluntary scheme of so much private and public 
good, such piety, with such beneficence, certainly merited 
a different return; and, if the university in general, instead 
of ridiculing or persecuting them, had had the grace to 
imitate their example, it would have been much better 
both for the public and themselves." 

Even their eldest brother Samuel added his seasonable 
exhortations to perseverance, in a short but vigorous letter: 
"I can not say, I thought you always in every thing right; 
but I must now say, rather than you and Charles should 
give over your whole course, especially what relates to the 
castle, I would choose to follow either of you, nay, both 
of you, to your graves. I can not advise you better, than 
m the words I proposed for a motto to a pamphlet, XtyG 9 
t8paio$ to$ dar^coy tvrttoixsvQ^ xa"ka yap aQXr^x BspsaOao xai vixqv. 
* Stand thou steadfast as a beaten anvil; for it is the part 
of a good champion to be flayed alive and to conquer. 999 
(Whitehead's Life.) 

Sickness, and cowardly desertion arising from weariness 
of the cross, some time after this, reduced the number of 
this little society of zealous young men, and the brothers 

3 



26 



THE LIFE 0E 



were left to stand almost alone; but they still persevered 
with unabated zeal and diligence in their attempts to do 
good, exhibiting a rare example of decision, only to be 
accounted for by a preparing influence of God upon their 
hearts, thus training them up for still more arduous service. 
This it was which had implanted in them those admirable 
principles, which, are unreservedly laid open in a letter of 
Mr. John Wesley to his brother Samuel, who had begun 
to think that they were pushing the strictness of their per- 
sonal piety too far: 

" 1. As to the end of my being, I lay it down for a rule, 
that I can not be too happy, or, therefore, too holy; and 
thence infer that the more steadily I keep my eye upon the 
prize of our high calling, and the more of my thoughts, 
and words, and actions are directly pointed at the attain- 
ment of it, the better. 2. As to the instituted means of 
attaining it, I likewise lay it down for a rule, that I am to 
use them every time I may. 3. As to prudential means, 
I believe this rule holds of things indifferent in themselves; 
whatever I know to do me hurt, that to me is not indif- 
ferent, but resolutely to be abstained from: whatever I 
know to do me good, that to me is not indifferent, but 
resolutely to be embraced/' (Whitehead's Life.) 

Adverting to this charge of over-strictness, and being 
" righteous overmuch," he also earnestly requests his 
mother to point out any instance in which she might judge, 
from their unreserved communications to her of every part 
of their conduct, that they were too superstitious or enthu- 
siastic on the one hand, or too remiss on the other. Some 
anxiety had, indeed, been created at home by the singularity 
of their proceedings, and the opposition they had roused 
at Oxford, which w T as, probably, the chief reason why the 
father extended his journey from London to Oxford at the 
close of the year 1731. He was, however, evidently sat- 
isfied with his personal observations and inquiries; for on 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



27 



his return to London he writes to Mrs. Wesley, that he had 
been well repaid for the expense and labor of his journey 
to Oxford, "by the shining piety of our two sons." 

In the midst of all this zeal, devotedness, and patience 
of reproach, when the eye of man could see nothing but a 
mature and vital Christianity, we are enabled to ascertain 
the state of Mr. "Wesley's own heart as laid open by him- 
self. Speaking of a time a little subsequent to the decided 
impressions he had received from the reading of Bishop 
Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying," and Mr. Law's "Seri- 
ous Call," he says, "I was convinced, more than ever, of 
the exceeding hight and breadth and depth of the law of 
God. The light flowed in so mightily upon my soul, that 
every thing appeared in a new view. I cried to God for 
help, and resolved not to prolong the time of obeying him 
as I had never done before. And by my continued en- 
deavor to keep his whole law, inward and outward, to the 
best of my power, I was persuaded that I should be 
accepted of him; and that I was even then in a state of 
salvation." 

He was now manifestly seeking justification before God 
by efforts at a perfect obedience to his law ; nor was he 
then quite hopeless as to success. Some time afterward, 
still clearly convinced, as he had been from the first, that 
he was not in that state of mind, that settled enjoyment 
of conscious peace with God — that love to him, delight in 
him, and filial access to him, which the ISTew Testament 
describes as the privilege of a true believer — but still dili- 
gently persevering in the rigid practice of every discovered 
duty, in the hope of seizing the great prize by this means, 
he became greatly surprised that he was so far from ob- 
taining it. He was often dull and formal in the use of 
the ordinances, and was on that account thrown "into 
distress and perplexity ; so that he seemed at a loss which 
way to proceed, to obtain the happiness and security he 



28 



THE LIFE OF 



wanted." (Whitehead.) The deep tone of feeling, and 
the earnestness of his inquiries, in the following passages 
from a letter to his mother, written in 1732, present this 
state of his mind in a very affecting light. He then 
needed some one more fully instructed in the true doctrine 
of salvation, than even this excellent and intelligent "guide 
of his youth," to teach him to lay down the burden of his 
wounded and anxious spirit, in self-despair as to his own 
efforts, at the foot of the cross of Christ. 

After mentioning Mr. Morgan, he observes: " One con- 
sideration is enough to make me assent .to his and your 
judgment concerning the holy sacrament; which is, that 
we can not allow Christ's human nature to be present in it, 
without allowing either con-substantiation or tran-substan- 
tiation. But that his divinity is so united to us. then, as 
he never is but to worthy receivers, I firmly believe; 
though the manner of that union is utterly a mystery to me. 

"That none but worthy receivers should find this effect 
is not strange to me, when I observe how small effect 
many means of improvement have upon an unprepared 
mind. Mr. Morgan and my brother were affected, as they 
ought, by the observations you made on that glorious sub- 
ject; but, though my understanding approved what was 
excellent, yet my heart did not feel it. Why was this, but 
because it was pre-engaged by those affections with which 
wisdom will not dwell? Because the animal mind can 
not relish those truths which are spiritually discerned. 
Yet I have those writings which the good Spirit gave to 
that end! I have many of those which he hath since as- 
sisted his servants to give us; I have retirement to apply 
these to my own soul daily; I have means both of public 
and private prayer; and, above all, of partaking in that 
sacrament once a week. What shall I do to make all 
these blessings effectual? to gain from them that mind 
which was also in Christ Jesus? 



REY. JOHN WESLEY. 



" To all who give signs of their not being strangers to 
it, I propose this question — and why not to you rather 
than any? — Shall I quite break off my pursuit of all learn- 
ing, but what immediately tends to practice? I once 
desired to make a fair show in languages and philosophy; 
but it is past; there is a more excellent way; and if I can 
not attain to any progress in the one, without thro wing- 
up all thoughts of the other, why, fare it well! yet a little 
while, and we shall all be equal in knowledge, if we are 
m virtue. 

"You say you have renounced the world. And what 
have I been doing all this time? What have I done ever 
since I was born? Why, I have been plunging myself 
into it more and more. It is enough: awake, thou that 
sleepest. Is there not one Lord, one Spirit, one hope of 
our calling? one way of attaining that hope? Then I am 
to renounce the world as well as you. That is the very 
thing I want to do: to draw off my affections from this 
world, and fix them on a better. But how? What is the 
surest and the shortest way? Is it not to be humble? 
Surely this is a large step in the way. But the question 
recurs, How am I to do this? To own the necessity of it, 
is not to be humble. In many things you have interceded 
for me and prevailed. Who knows but in this, too, you 
may be successful. If you can spare me only that little 
part of Thursday evening which you formerly bestowed 
upon me in another manner, I doubt not but it would be 
as useful now, for correcting my heart, as it was then for 
forming my judgment. 

"When I observe how fast life flies away, and how 
slow improvement comes, I think one can never be too 
much afraid of dying before one has learned to live. I 
mean, even in the course of nature. For were I sure that 
'the silver cord should not be violently loosed,' that 'the 
wheel' should not be 'broken at the cistern,' till it was 

3*. 



30 



THE LIFE OY 



quite worn away by its own motion, yet what a time would 
this give me for such a work! a moment, to transact the 
business of eternity! What are forty years in comparison 
of this? So that, were I sure, what never man yet was 
sure of, how little would it alter the case! How justly 
still might I cry out, i 

'Downward I hasten to my destined place; 
There none obtain thy aid, none sing 1 thy praise! 
Soon shall I lie in death's deep ocean drowivd; 
Is mercy there, is sweet forgiveness found? 
O save me yet, while on the brink I stand, 
Rebuke these storms, and set me safe on land. 
O make my longings and thy mercy sure! 
Thou art the God of power.' " (Whitehead's Life.) 

It was not, therefore, as it has been hastily stated, that 
he first learned from the Moravians that he was not a true 
Christian. He had, at Oxford, a most painful conviction 
that he was far below the evangelical standard. He had 
then, as this letter sufficiently shows, a large measure of 
"the spirit of bondage unto fear;" and that after which 
his perplexed heart panted, was the "spirit of adoption,' ' 
by which he might "cry, Abba, Father." 

During the summer of this year, 1732, Mr. Wesley 
visited London, where he formed an acquaintance with 
several respectable and pious persons. He also made two 
journeys to Ep worth. The latter of these was in order to 
meet the whole family, which had assembled, upon the 
father's request, once more before their final separation by 
death. These and other journeys he performed on foot, 
partly, no doubt, to avoid what he considered needless 
expense, that he might, according to his rule, have the 
more to distribute in charity, and partly to accustom him- 
self to fatigue and hardship. "In these excursions he 
constantly preached on the Lord's day; so that he might 
now be called, in some degree, an itinerant preacher." In 
the following year he again visited Ep worth, Manchester, 



REV, JOHN WESLEY. 



3« 



and some other places; but his occasional absence had a 
bad effect upon the still persecuted society at Oxford, 
whose members shrunk from the storm, and took the op- 
portunity of his being away to shake off the strictness of 
the rules. The five-and-twenty communicants at St. 
Mary's, he informs his father, had shrunk to five. Still 
his courage was unshaken, and he exerted himself the 
more, upon his return, to repair the loss. Toward the 
end of the year, his exertions of mind and body, with an 
excess of abstemiousness, greatly affected his health, and 
induced spitting of blood. His state was such as greatly 
to alarm his friends; but the vigor of his constitution 
triumphed; and this attack of disease served to impress 
him .the more deeply with eternal things, and to give 
renewed ardor to his endeavors after universal holiness, 
and to his plans for the religious benefit of his fellow - 
creatures. 

A considerable trial to his feelings now awaited him. 
The declining age of his father, who anxiously desired to 
provide for the spiritual wants of his parishioners in a 
suitable manner, joined with the wishes of the people of 
Epworth, and the concerns of the family, for which no pro- 
vision, it seems, had been made, induced him to write to 
his son, to make interest for the next presentation to the 
living. Mr. Wesley, from his reluctance to leave Oxford, 
where he thought he should be far more useful, and 
where, according to his own convictions, he was placed in 
circumstances more conducive to his spiritual improvement, 
refused the proposal; and the most urgent letters of the 
different branches of the family were insufficient to bend 
his resolutions. His father wrote him a pathetic letter, in 
which every consideration was urged which might answer 
his objections, or move his feelings. His brother Samuel 
addressed him in a sterner mood, urging that he was not 
at liberty to resolve against undertaking a cure of souls, 



32 



THE LIFE OF 



to which he was solemnly pledged by his ordination; and 
ridiculed his notion that he could not, so safely to himself, 
or so usefully to others, take the charge of a parish priest, 
as remain at Oxford. To all this he reiterates, that his 
own holiness and usefulness could be promoted no where 
so effectually as in his present station; that his retirement, 
his friends, and other advantages, were essential to his 
improvement; that he was inadequate to the charge of 
two thousand parishioners; and that he did not consider 
his ordination vows in the same light as his brother. On 
the last point, indeed, he was supported by the opinion of 
the bishop who ordained him, and whom he consulted on 
the question. These and other topics run through the 
correspondence, which, though it is not necessary to give 
entire, affords considerable insight into the state of Mr. 
Wesley's mind. His conduct in this matter has been 
criticised as unfeeling, without considering that the kind- 
ness of his general character is a sufficient pledge, that the 
refusal of the urgent request of a venerable father, and a 
beloved mother whose widowhood would be unprovided for, 
must have been to him sufficiently painful. Dr. Southey 
thinks the correspondence not "creditable to his judg- 
ment/' (Life of Wesley;) but it would be hard to prove 
that the leading consideration which influenced him, that 
he was more usefully employed in doing good at the very 
"fountain" from which the nation was to be so largely 
supplied with its clergy, than as a country parish priest, 
was not a very obvious truth. This conclusion, true or 
false, was at least a very plausible one, and as such con- 
cerned his conscience; and his disregard of his own tem- 
poral advantage, which certainly lay on the side of the 
Epworth rectory, and his merging all consideration of the 
interests of the family in the higher question of what he 
regarded as a duty, might not appear instances of "good 
judgment" to worldly minds, and yet be so in reality. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



33 



His leading reason, drawn from his greater usefulness at 
Oxford, being strong in itself, that he, with his wonted 
decision of character, should stand firmly upon it, will 
create no surprise; but that some of his other reasons are 
less weighty may be granted. They show that he had 
more confidence in a certain class of means, to secure his 
religious safety, than in the grace of God. This was the 
natural effect of those notions of the efficacy of retirement, 
and self-denial, and "the wisdom of flight " from danger, 
which he had learned from Bishop Taylor; while the views 
he entertained of the necessity of exercising a minute per- 
sonal superintendence over every individual committed to 
his charge, as being equally necessary to his own good 
conscience, and to their salvation, led him to regard a 

7 7 o 

parish, containing two thousand souls, as too formidable 
and fearful an undertaking. His religious judgment was, 
indeed, as yet immature and perplexed; but, in reasoning 
from his own principles, his natural judgment showed its 
usual strength in the conclusions to which it conducted 
him. Whatever weakness there might be in the case was 
the result of the imperfect state of his religious experience, 
and of that dependence upon his own plans of attaining 
spirituality, to which it gave rise; but connecting him with 
that great work which he was designed afterward to effect, 
we must shut out also the doctrine of providence, if we do 
not see a higher hand than that of man in this determina- 
tion — a hand which is not the less certainly employed, 
when it works its ends through the secret volitions, aver- 
sions, inclinations, and even prejudices of the human heart, 
than when it more sensibly and immediately interposes to 
hasten or retard our purposes. Mr. "Wesley's father died 
in April, 1735. He had been manifestly ripening for his 
change; and in his last moments had the consolation of 
the presence of his two sons, John and Charles. "He had 
no fear of death; and the peace of God which he enjoyed 



34 



THE LIFE OF 



appeared sometimes to suspend his bodily sufferings, and, 
when they recurred, to sustain his mind above them. 
When, as nature seemed spent, and his speech was failing, 
his son John asked him whether he was not near heaven, 
he answered, 'Yes, I am/ distinctly, and with a voice of 
hope and joy. After John had used the commendatory 
prayer, he said, 'ISTow you have done all:' these were his 
last words, and he passed away so peacefully and insensi- 
bly, that his children continued over him a considerable 
time in doubt whether or not the spirit was departed. 
Mrs. Wesley, who for several days, whenever she entered 
his chamber, had been carried out of it in a fit, recovered 
her fortitude now, and said her prayers were heard, for 
God had granted him an easy death, and had strengthened 
her to bear it." (Southey's Life.) Brighter views of 
the doctrine of faith had opened upon his mind, during 
his sickness, and shed their influence upon his last hours. 
This his sons afterward more clearly understood than at 
the time.* 

About the middle of this year the trustees of the new 
colony of Georgia, who wished to send out clergymen 
both to administer to the spiritual wants of the colonists, 
and also to attempt the conversion of the Indians, directed 

* In some of the biographical notices which have been published of 
this venerable man, he is represented of a harsh and stern character. 
On this point the late Miss Wesley observes, in a MS. letter before me, 
u I never understood this from any of his children, who idolized his mem- 
ory, and spoke of his kindness. He certainly never forced his daughter 
to marry Wright, as it has been suggested." In the same letter, Miss 
Wesley also corrects the current anecdote respecting the Epworth clerk 
and the rector's wig, which, though laughable enough, implicates Mr. 
Wesley in an irreverent act, in the house of God, of which he was not 
capable. The clerk did appear one Sunday, in church, in the ill-befit- 
ting, cast-off wig of his master; and, to the disturbance of the gravity of 
the congregation, gave out the psalm, 

"Like to an owl in ivy bush, 
That fearsome thing am I." 
But Mr. Wesley had no hand in selecting the psalm, which appears to 
have been purely accidental. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



3b 



their attention to Mr. John Wesley, and some of his mends 
at Oxford, as peculiarly qualified, both by zeal and piety, 
and their habits of self-denial, for this service. After 
some delay, and consultation with his family, he accepted 
the offer; and thus, though Epworth could not draw him 
from Oxford, an enterprise of a missionary character, and 
presenting no temptations to ease and sloth, such as he 
feared in a parish at home, overcame his scruples. This 
itself is in proof that he had not resolved to remain in 
Oxford, in preference to accepting the living of Epworth, 
from selfish motives. In the question of usefulness, the 
balance before inclined to Oxford; and now that he thought 
a greater field for doing good opened in America, he 
yielded to that consideration. This mission was accom- 
panied also with the certainty of great hardships and suf- 
ferings, which, according to his then defective, but most 
sincere views, were necessary to his perfection. His resi- 
dence at Oxford now terminated, and this portion of his 
life may be properly concluded with some passages of a 
letter written by Mr. Gambold, a man of fine genius, as 
some of his poems show, and of eminent holiness; who, 
some years afterward, left the Church of England, and 
became a Moravian bishop. The letter was addressed to 
one of Mr. Wesley's relations, and contains a lively descrip- 
tion of the character and proceedings of a friend, whom he 
did not then expect to see again on earth: 

"About the middle of March, 1730, 1 became acquainted 
with Mr. Charles Wesley, of Christ Church. After some 
time, he introduced me to his brother John, of Lincoln 
College. ■ For he is somewhat older/ said he, 'than I am, 
and can resolve your doubts better.' I never observed 
any person have a more real deference for another than ]m 
had for his brother; which is the more remarkable, because 
such near relations, being equals by birth, and conscious 
to each other of all the little familiar passages of their 



36 



THE LIFE OF 



lives, commonly stand too close to see the ground there 
may be for such submission. Indeed, he followed his 
brother entirely; could I describe one of them, I should 
describe both. I shall, therefore, say no more of Charles, 
but that he was a man formed for friendship, who, by his 
cheerfulness and vivacity, would refresh his friend's 
heart; with attentive consideration, would enter into, and 
settle all his concerns as far as he was able; he would do 
any thing for him, great or small; and, by a habit of mu- 
tual openness and freedom, would leave no room for mis- 
understanding. 

"The Wesleys were already talked of for some religious 
practices, which were first occasioned by Mr. Morgan, of 
Christ Church. From these combined friends began a lit- 
tle society. Mr. John Wesley was the chief manager, for 
which he was very fit; for he had not only more learning 
and experience than the rest, but he was blessed with such 
activity as to be always gaining ground, and such steadi- 
ness that he lost none. What proposals he made to any 
were sure to alarm them, because he was so much in ear- 
nest; nor could they afterward slight them, because they 
saw him always the same. What supported this uniform 
vigor was the care he took to consider well every affair 
before he engaged in it, making all his decisions in the fear 
of God, without passion, humor, or self-confidence. For 
though he had naturally a very clear apprehension, yet his 
exact prudence depended more on his humility and single- 
ness of heart. He had, I think, something of authority in 
his countenance, yet he never assumed any thing to him- 
self above his companions; any of them might speak their 
mind, and their words were as strictly regarded by him as 
his words were by them. 

"Their undertaking included these several particulars: 
to converse with young students; to visit the prisons; to 
instruct some poor families; to take care of a school, and 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



37 



a parish workhouse. They took great pains with the 
younger members of the university, to rescue them from 
bad company, and encourage them in a sober, studious 
life. They would get them to breakfast, and over a dish 
of tea endeavor to fasten some good hint upon them. 
They would bring them acquainted with other well-disposed 
young men, give them assistance in the difficult parts of 
their learning, and watch over them with the greatest ten- 
derness. 

k 

"Some or other of them went to the castle every day, 
and another most commonly to Bocardo. Whoever went 
to the castle was to read in the chapel to as many prisoners 
as would attend, and to talk apart to the man or men whom 
he had taken particularly in charge. When a new prisoner 
came, their conversation with him for four or five times 
was close and searching. If any one was under sentence 
of death, or appeared to have some intentions of a new 
life, they came every day to his assistance, and partook in 
the conflict and suspense of those who should now be 
found able, or not able, to lay hold on salvation. In order 
to release those who were confined for small debts, and to 
purchase books and other necessaries, they raised a little 
fund, to which many of their acquaintance contributed 
quarterly. They had prayers at the castle most Wednes- 
days and Fridays, a sermon on Sunday, and the sacrament 
once a month. 

"When they undertook any poor family, they saw them 
at least once a week; sometimes gave them money, ad- 
monished them of their vices, read to them, and examined 
their children. The school was, I think, of Mr. Wesley's 
own setting up; however, he paid the mistress, and clothed 
some, if not all, the children. When they went thither, 
they inquired how each child behaved, saw their work, 
heard them read and say their prayers, or catechism, and 
explained part of it. In the same manner they taught the 

4 



38 



THE LIFE OF 



children in the workhouse, and read to the old people as 
they did to the prisoners. 

" They seldom took any notice of the accusations brought 
against them for their charitable employments; but if they 
did make any reply, it was commonly such a plain and 
simple one, as if there was nothing more m the case, but 
that they had just heard such doctrines of their Savior, 
and had believed, and done accordingly. 

"I could say a great deal of his private piety, how it 
was nourished by a continual recourse to God, and pre- 
served by a strict watchfulness in beating down pride, and 
reducing the craftiness and impetuosity of nature to a 
childlike simplicity, and in a good degree crowned with 
divine love, and victory over the whole set of earthly pas- 
sions. He thought prayer to be more his business than 
any thing else; and I have seen him come out of his closet 
with a serenity of countenance that was next to* shining; 
it discovered what he had been doing, and gave me double 
hope of receiving wise directions, in the matter about which 
I came to consult him. In all his motions he attended to 
the will of God. He had neither the presumption nor the 
leisure to anticipate things whose season was not now; and 
would show some uneasiness whenever any of us, by imper- 
tinent speculations, were shifting off the appointed im- 
provement of the present minute. 

"Because he required such a regulation of our studies 
as might devote them all to God, he has been accused as 
one that discouraged learning. Far from that; for the first 
thing he struck at, in young men, was that indolence which 
will not submit to close thinking. He earnestly recom- 
mended to them a method and order in all their actions. 

"If any one could have provoked him, I should; for I 
was very slow in coming into their measures, and very 
remiss in doing my part. I frequently contradicted his 
assertions; or, which is much the same, distinguished upon 



REV. JOHN WESLEY- 



39 



them. I hardly ever submitted to his advice at the time 
he gave it, though I relented afterward. He is now gone 
to Georgia as a missionary, where there is ignorance that 
aspires after divine wisdom, but no false learning that is 
got above it. He is, I confess, still living; and I know 
that an advantageous character is more decently bestowed 
on the deceased. But, beside that his condition is very 
like that of the dead, being unconcerned in all we say, I 
am not making any attempt on the opinion of the public, 
but only studying a private edification. A family picture 
of him his relations may be allowed to keep by them. 
And this is the idea of Mr. Wesley, which I cherish for 
the service of my own soul, and which I take the liberty 
likewise to deposit with you." (Whitehead's Life.) 

This letter is honorable to Mr. Gambold's friendship; 
but he was not himself, at that time, of mature spiritual 
discernment, nor had Mr. Wesley opened the state of his 
heart to him with the freedom which we have seen in his 
letters to his mother. The external picture of the man is 
exact; but he is not inwardly that perfect Christian which 
Mr. Gambold describes, nor had he that abiding "interior 
peace." He was struggling with inward corruptions, which 
made him still cry, '* 0, wretched man that I am! who 
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And he 
as yet put mortification, retirement, and contempt of the 
world, too much in the place of that divine atonement, 
the virtue of which, when received by simple faith, at once 
removes the sense of guilt, cheers the spirit by a peaceful 
sense of acceptance through the merits of Christ, and 
renews the whole heart after the image of God. He was, 
indeed, attempting to work out "his own salvation with 
fear and trembling;" but not as knowing that "it is God 
that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure." 
He had not, in this respect, learned "to be nothing," that 
he might "possess all things." 



40 



THE LIFE OF 



CHAPTER III. 

I 

Mr. Wesley now prepared for Georgia, the place where, 
as he afterward said, " God humbled rne, and proved me, 
and showed me what was in my heart.' ' But he was not 
suffered to depart without remonstrances from friends 
which he answered calmly and at length, and the scoffs oi 
the profane, to which he made but brief reply. "What it 
this, sir?" said one of the latter class to him; "are you 
turned Quixotte too? Will nothing serve you, but to en- 
counter windmills?" To which he replied, "Sir, if the 
Bible be not true, I am as very a fool and madman as you 
can conceive; but if it be of God, I am sober-minded." 

Mr. Charles Wesley, although in opposition to the 
opinion of his brother Samuel, agreed to accompany him 
to Georgia, and received holy orders. They were accom- 
panied by Mr. Ingham, of Queen's College, and Mr. Dela- 
motte. That Mr. Wesley considered the sacrifices and 
hardships of their mission in the light of means of relig- 
ious edification to themselves, as well as the means of doing- 
good to others, is plain from his own account: "Our end 
in leaving our native country was not to avoid want; God 
had given us plenty of temporal blessings; nor to gain the 
dung and dross of riches and honor; but singly this> to 
save our souls, to live wholly to the glory of God." 
These observations are sufficiently indicative of that de- 
pendence upon a mortified course of life, and that seclu- 
sion from the temptations of the world, which he then 
thought essential to religious safety. 

Georgia is now a flourishing state, and the number of 
Methodist societies in it very considerable; a result not then 
certainly contemplated by the Wesleys, who labored there 
with little success, and quitted it almost in despair. The 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



41 



first settlers from England embarked in 1732, with Mr. 
James Oglethorpe at their head, who was also one of the 
trustees under the charter. This gentleman founded Sa- 
vannah, and concluded a treaty with the Cr^ek Indians. 
Wars with both Spaniards and Indians, however, subse- 
quently arose, as well as domestic feuds; and in 1752 the 
trustees surrendered their charter to the king, and it was 
made a royal government. It was, therefore, in the in- 
fancy of the colony that the "Wesleys commenced their 
labors. 

That they should experience trouble, vexation, and dis- 
appointment, was the natural result both of the circum- 
stances in which they were placed, and their own religious 
habits and views. A small colony, and especially in its 
infancy, is usually a focus of faction, discontent, and cen- 
soriousness. The colonists are often disappointed, uneasy 
in their circumstances, frustrated in their hopes, and impa- 
tient of authority. This was the case in Georgia; and 
although Mr. Oglethorpe upon the whole was a worthy 
governor, he was subject to prejudices, and prone to be 
misled by designing men. He certainly did not support 
the Wesleys with that steadiness and uniformity which 
were due to them;* and on the other hand they were not 
faultless, although their intentions were entirely upright. 
They had high notions of clerical authority; and their pas- 
toral faithfulness was probably rigid and repulsive; for, in 
spite of the excellence of their own natural temper, an 
austere cast had been given to their piety. They stood 
firmly on little things, as well as great; and held the reins 
of ecclesiastical discipline with a tightness unsuitable to 
infant colonists especially, and which tended to provoke 

* Oglethorpe's good opinion of the brothers was, however, shown by 
his anxiety to persuade Charles to return again to the colony, after he had 
visited England; and by the marked respect and even reverence with 
which at a future period he treated John. 

4* 



42 



THE LIFE OF 



resistance. Their integrity of heart, and the purity of 
their intentions, came forth without a stain: they must also 
be allowed to have proceeded according to the best light 
they had; but they knew not yet "the love of Christ," nor 
how to sway men's hearts by that all-commanding and 
controlling motion; and they aimed at making men Chris- 
tians, in the manner they sought that great attainment 
themselves — by a rigid and ascetic discipline. 

On their passage, an exact plan for the employment of 
time was arranged, and observed; but the voyage is most 
remarkable for bringing Mr. Wesley acquainted with the 
members of the Moravian Church; for among the settlers 
taken out were twenty-six Germans of this communion. 
Mr. Wesley immediately began to learn German, in order 
to converse with them; and David Nichtman, the Moravian 
bishop, and two others, received lessons in English. On 
the passage they had several storms, in which Mr. Wesley 
felt that the fear of death had not been taken away from 
him, and concluded therefore that he was not fit to die; on 
the contrary, he greatly admired the absence of all slavish 
dread in the Germans. He says, "I had long before 
observed the great seriousness of their behavior. Of their 
humility they had given a continual proof, by performing 
those servile offices for the other passengers which none of 
the English would undertake; for which they desired and 
would receive no pay; saying it was 'good for their proud 
hearts, and their loving Savior had done more for them.' 
And every day had given them occasion of showing a 
meekness, which no injury could move. If they were 
pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went 
away; but no complaint was found in their mouth. There 
was now an opportunity of trying whether they were 
delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of 
pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the Psalm 
wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



43 



the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in 
between the decks, as if the great deep had already swal- 
lowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the 
English. The Germans calmlv suns; on. I asked one of 
them afterward, 'Was you not afraid?' He answered, 'I 
thank God, no.' I asked, 'But were not your women and 
children afraid?' He replied, mildly, c JSo; our women 
and children are not afraid to die.' " (Journal.) 

Thus he had the first glimpse of a religious experience 
which keeps the mind at peace in all circumstances, and 
vanquishes that feeling which a formal and defective relig- 
ion may lull to temporary sleep, but can not eradicate — - 
"the fear of death." 

They landed on the 6th of February, 1736, on a small 
uninhabited island; from whence Mr. Oglethorpe pro- 
ceeded to Savannah, and returned the next day, bringing 
with him Mr. Spangenberg, one of the Moravian pastors, 
already settled there. 

"I soon found," says Mr. Wesley, "what spirit he was 
of, and asked his advice with regard to my own conduct. 
He said, 'My brother, I must first ask you one or two 
questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does 
the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit, that you 
are the child of God?' I was surprised, and knew not 
what to answer. He observed it, and asked, 'Do you 
know Jesus Christ?' I paused and said, I know he is the 
Savior of the world. ' True,' replied he, 'but do you 
know he has saved you?' I answered, I hope he has died 
to save me. He only added, 'Do you know yourself?' I 
said, I do. But I fear they were vain words." (Journal.) 

Mr. Charles Wesley took charge of Frederica, and Mr. 
John of Savannah, where, the house not being ready, he 
took up his residence with the Germans, with whose spirit 
and conduct he became still more favorably impressed, 
and whose mode of proceeding in the election and ordina- 



44 



THE LIFE OF 



tion of a bishop carried him back, he says, to those primi- 
tive times " where form and state were not, but Paul, the 
tent-maker, and Peter, the fisherman, presided, yet with 
demonstration of the Spirit, and power." 

Mr. Wesley had not been long at Savannah, before he 
heard from Charles of his troubles and opposition at Fred- 
erica. His presence among the licentious colonists, and 
the frequent reproofs he administered, made him an object 
of great hatred, and " plots were formed either to ruin him 
in the opinion of Oglethorpe, or to take him off by vio- 
lence." (Whitehead's Life.) Oglethorpe was, for a time, 
successfully practiced upon, treated him with coldness, 
and left him to endure the greatest privations. He lay 
upon the ground in the corner of a hut, and was denied 
the luxury of a few boards for a bed. He was out of fa- 
vor with the governor; even the servants on that account 
insulted him; and, worn out with vexation and hardships, 
he fell into a dangerous fever. In this state he was visited 
by his brother John, who prevailed upon him to break a 
resolution which "honor and indignation" had induced 
him to form, of "starving rather than ask for necessaries." 
Soon after this, Mr. Oglethorpe discovered the plots of 
which he had been the victim, and was fully reconciled to 
him. He then took charge of Savannah, while John sup- 
plied his place at Frederica; and in July, 1736, he was 
sent to England, charged with dispatches from Mr. Ogle- 
thorpe to the trustees and the board of trade, and, in De- 
cember, arrived at Deal; thus terminating a service in 
which he had preached with great fidelity and zeal; but 
had met with very unworthy returns. 

Of the two places, Savannah appears to have been more 
hopeful than Frederica; and as Mr. John Wesley did not 
find the door open for preaching to the Indians, he con- 
sulted with his companions in what manner they might be 
most useful to the flock at Savannah. It was agreed, 1. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



4a 



To advise the more serious among them to form themseives 
into a little society, and to meet once or twice a week, in 
order to reprove, instruct, and exhort one another. 2. To 
select out of these a smaller number for a more intimate 
union with each other; which might be forwarded partly 
by their conversing singly with each, and inviting them all 
together to Mr. "Wesley's house; and this, accordingly, 
they determined to do every Sunday in the afternoon. 
"Here," says Dr. Whitehead, "we see the first rudiments 
of the future economy of classes and bands."* 

In this respect he probably learned something from the 
Moravians, and the whole plan fell in with his previous 
views of discipline and method. The character of his 
mind was eminently practical; he was in earnest, and he 
valued things just as they appeared to be adapted to pro- 
mote the edification and salvation of those committed to 
his charge. A school was also established, and the chil- 
dren regularly catechised by Mr. Wesley, both in private 
and in church. Evening meetings for the more serious 
were also held at his house; so actively did he apply him- 
self, not only to the public services of the sanctuary, but 
to every kind of engagement, by which he might make 
"full proof of his ministry." The religious state of his 
own mind, however, remained much the same. He saw 
another striking instance of the power of faith, in the 
peaceful and edifying death of one of the Moravians; and 
had another proof that he himself was not saved from 
"the fear which hath torment," in a severe storm of thun- 
der and lio'htnincr. Both indicated to him that he had not 

o o 

* There was, however, nothing" new in this. Mr. Wesley had doubt- 
less heard, in his visit to London, of the religious societies described by 
Dr. "Woodward, which were encouraged by the more serious clergy, and 
held weekly private meetings for religious edification. It is probable that 
he had even attended such meetings in the metropolis. Wherever, indeed, 
a revival of serious religion has taken place, and ministers have been in 
earnest to promote it, we see similar means adopted, as by Baxter at Kid- 
derminster, during his eminently-successful ministry there, 



46 



THE LIFE OF 



attained the state of ' 'the sons of God," but his views 
were still perplexed and obscure. From a conversation 
which he had with some Indians who had visited Savan- I 
nah, he concluded that the way was opened for him to ! 
preach among the Choctaws, and this he was desirous of , 
attempting;; but as Savannah would have been left without 
a minister, the governor objected, and his friends were also 
of opinion that he could not then be spared from the 
colony. 

In his visits to Frederica he met with great opposition 
and much illiberal abuse; in Savannah he was, however, 
rapidly gaining influence, when a circumstance occurred 
which issued in his departure from Georgia altogether. 
He had formed an attachment to an accomplished young 
lady, a Miss Hopkey,* niece to the wife of Mr. Causton, 
the chief magistrate of Savannah, which she appears to 
have returned, or at least encouraged. The biographers 
of Mr. Wesley, Dr. Whitehead and Mr. Moore, differ as to 
the fact, whether this connection was broken off by him, 
or by the lady herself in consequence of his delays. The 
latter professes to have received the whole account from 
Mr. Wesley, and must, therefore, be presumed to be the 
best authority. From this statement it appears that Mr. 
Delamotte suspected the sincerity of the lady's pretensions 
to piety, and thought his friend, Mr. Wesley, whose con- 
fiding and unsuspecting heart prevented him at all times 
from being a severe judge of others, was likely to be the 
victim of artifices which he had not the skill or the inclina- 
tion to discern. His remonstrances led Mr. Wesley to refer 
the question of his marriage with Miss Hopkey to the 
judgment of the elders of the Moravian Church, which he 
thought he was at liberty to do, since the acquaintance, 
though it had ripened into regard and thoughts of mar- 
riage, had not, it seems, proceeded to any thing deter- 

* Incorrectly callei' Miss Causton by Mr. Wesley's biographers, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



minate. The Moravians advised him to proceed no farther; 
and his conduct toward Miss.Hopkey became cautious and 
distant, very naturally to her mortification, and perhaps 
pain. An entry in his journal shows that he had a con- 
siderable struggle with his own feelings, and that his sense 
of duty had exacted a great sacrifice from his heart. The 
lady soon afterward married a Mr. Williamson; but a hos- 
tile feeling toward him had been left in the minds of her 
friends, which the gossiping and censorious habits of a 
small colony would not fail to keep alive. Though Mr. 
Wesley did not certainly see her married to another with 
perfect philosophy, it was not in his generous nature to 
allow his former affection to turn into resentment, which 
was the fault subsequently charged upon him; and, as he 
soon saw many things in her to reprove, it is probable that 
he thought his escape a fortunate one. Perhaps, consider- 
ing the singularity of his habits at that time, it was well 
for the lady also; which seems, indeed, jocosely intimated 
in a passage of a letter of his brother Samuel to him on 
the occasion: "I am sorry you are disappointed in one 
match, because you are unlikely to find another. " 

An opportunity for the manifestation of the secret preju- 
dice which had been nourished by the friends of the niece 
of Mrs. Causton was afforded in about five months after 
her marriage. Mr. Wesley adhered to the rubric of the 
Church of England as to the administration of the sacra- 

o 

ment, without respect of persons, and with a rigidness 
which was not at all common. He repelled those whom 
he thought unworthy; and when any one had neglected 
the ordinance, he required him to signify his name the day 
before he intended to communicate again. Some time 
after Mrs. Williamson's marriage, he discovered several 
things which he thought blamable in her conduct. These, 
as she continued to communicate, he mentioned to her, 
and she in return became angry. For reasons, therefore, 



48 



THE LIFE OF 



which he stated to her in a letter, he repelled her from the 
communion. This letter was written by desire of Mr. 
Causton, who wished to have his reasons for repelling his 
niece in writing: 

"At Mr. Causton's request I write once more. The 
rules whereby I proceed are these: 'So many as intend to 
partake of the holy communion shall signify their names 
to the curate, at least some time the day before.' This 
you did not do. 

"'And if any of these have done any wrong to his 
neighbor by word or deed, so that the congregation be 
thereby offended, the curate shall advertise him, that in 
any wise he presume not to come to the Lord's table, till 
he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented.' 

"If you offer yourself at the Lord's table on Sunday, I 
will advertise you, as I have done more than once, wherein 
you have done wrong: and when you have openly declared 
yourself to have truly repented, I will administer to you 
the mysteries of God." (Journal.) 

The storm now broke forth upon him. A warrant was 
issued, and he was brought before the recorder and magis- 
trates, on the charges of Mr. "Williamson, 1. That he had 
defamed his wife. 2. That he had causelessly repelled 
her from the holy communion. Mr. Wesley denied the 
first charge; and the second being wholly ecclesiastical, he 
would not acknowledge the authority of the magistrate to 
decide upon it. He was, however, told that he must ap- 
pear before the next court, to be held at Savannah. 

The Causton family became now most active in their 
efforts to injure him. By them the reason why Mr. Wesley 
had repelled Mrs. Williamson from the Lord's table, was 
stated to be his resentment against her for having refused 
to marry him; which they knew to be contrary to the fact. 
Garbled extracts of his letters were read by Causton to 
those whom he could collect to hear them, probably in 



RlfV. JOHN WESLEY. 



49 



order to confirm this; and Mrs. Williamson was prevailed 
upon to swear to and sign a paper containing assertions 
and insinuations injurious to his character. (Journal.) 

The calm courage of the man who was thus so violently 
and unjustly persecuted, was not, however, to be shaken. 
"I sat still at home," says Mr. Wesley, "and, I thank God, 
easy, having committed my cause to him, and remembered 
his word, 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; 
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, 
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.' " 
(Journal.) 

As the sitting of the court drew near, Causton used 
every art to influence the grand jury, and, when they met, 
gave them "a long and earnest charge, 'to beware of 
spiritual tyranny, and to oppose the new illegal authority 
which was usurped over their consciences.' Mrs. William- 
son's affidavit was read; and he then delivered to them a 
paper, entitled, A list of grievances, presented by the grand 

jury for Savannah, this day of August, 1737. In 

the afternoon Mrs. Williamson was examined, who ac- 
knowledged that she had no objections to make against 
Mr. Wesley's conduct before her marriage. The next day 
Mr. and Mrs. Causton were also examined, when she con- 
fessed, that it was by her request Mr. Wesley had written 
to Mrs. Williamson on the 5th of July; and Mr. Causton 
declared, that if Mr. Wesley had asked his consent to have 
married his niece, he should not have refused it. The 
grand jury continued to examine these ecclesiastical griev- 
ances, which occasioned warm debates till Thursday, when 
Mr. Causton being informed they had entered on matters 
beyond his instructions, went to them, and behaved in such 
a manner, that he turned forty-two, out of the forty-four, 
into a fixed resolution to inquire into his whole behavior. 
They immediately entered on that business, and continued 
examining witnesses all day on Friday. On Saturday, 

5 



50 



THE LIFE OF 



Mr. Causton finding all his efforts to stop them ineffectual, 
adjourned the court till Thursday, the first of September, 
and spared no pains, in the mean time, to bring them to 
another mind. September 1. — He so far prevailed, that 
the majority of the grand jury returned the list of griev- 
ances to the court, in some particulars altered, under the 
form of two presentments, containing ten bills, only two of 
which related to the affair of Mrs. Williamson, and only 
one of these was cognizable by that court, the rest being 
merely ecclesiastical. September 2. — Mr. Wesley ad- 
dressed the court to this effect: 'As to nine of the ten in- 
dictments ao;aint me, I know this court can take no coo'ni- 
zance of them; they being matters of an ecclesiastical na- 
ture, and this not an ecclesiastical court. But the tenth, 
concerning my speaking and writing to Mrs. Williamson, 
is of a secular nature; and this, therefore, I desire may be 
tried here, where the facts complained of were committed/ 
Little answer was made, and that purely evasive. 

"In the afternoon he moved the court again, for an im- 
mediate trial at Savannah; adding, ' that those who are 
offended may clearly see whether I have done any wrong 
to any one; or whether I have not rather deserved the 
thanks of Mrs. Williamson, Mr. Causton, and of the whole 
family. ' Mr. Causton's answer was full of civility and re- 
spect. He observed, 'Perhaps things would not have been 
carried so far had you not said, you believed if Mr. Causton 
appeared, the people would tear him to pieces; not so much 
out of love to you as out of hatred to him for his abominable 
practices.' If Mr. Wesley really spoke these words, he 
was certainly very imprudent, considering the circum- 
stances in which he was placed. But we too often find in 
disputes, that the constructions of others on what has been 
said are reported as the very words Ave have spoken; which 
I suspect to have been the case here. Mr. Causton, 



REV. JOIDs' WESLEY. 



6i 



however, sufficiently discovered the motives that influenced 
his conduct in this business. 

"Twelve of the grand jurors now drew up a protest 
against the proceedings of the majority, to be immediately 
sent to the trustees in England. In this paper they gave 
such clear and satisfactory reasons, under every bill, for 
their dissent from the majority, as effectually did away all 
j lis c ground of complaint against Mr. Wesley, on the sub- 
jects of the prosecution." (Whitehead's Life.) 

''He attended the court held on November the 3d; 
and again at the court held on the 23d; urging an imme- 
diate hearing of his case, that he might have an opportunity 
of answering the allegations alleged against him. But 
this the magistrates refused, and at the same time counte- 
nanced every report to his disadvantage: whether it was a 
mere invention, or founded on a malicious construction of 
any thing he did or said. Mr. Wesley perceiving that he 
had not the most distant prospect of obtaining justice; that 
he was in a place where those in power were combined 
together to oppress him, and could any day procure evi- 
dence — as experience had shown — of words he had never 
spoken, and of actions he had never done; being disap- 
pointed, too, in the primary object of his mission — preach- 
ing to the Indians; he consulted his friends what he ought 
to do; who were of opinion with him, that by these circum- 
stances Providence did now call him to leave Savannah. 
The next day he called on Mr. Causton and told him he 
designed to set out for England immediately. " (White- 
head's Life.) 

The magistrates made a show of forbidding him to leave 
the colony; but he embarked openly, after having publicly 
advertised his intention, no man interposing to prevent 
him; one leading object of these. persecutions being to drive 
him away. His sermons had been too faithful, and his 



52 



THE LIFE OF 



reproofs too poignant, to make his continuance desirable to 

the majority of an irreligious colony.* 

The root of all this opposition no doubt lay in the enmity 
of his hearers to truth and holiness; but its manifestation 
might be occasioned in part by the strictness with which 
he acted upon obsolete branches of ecclesiastical discipline, 
and the unbending manner in which he insisted upon his 
spiritual authority. In the affair of Mrs. Williamson, he 
stands perfectly exculpated from the base motives which his 
enemies charged upon him; but in the first stages, it nei- 
ther appears to have been managed with prudence, nor a 
proper degree of Christian courtesy. His enemies have 
sneered at his declaration, that, after he left Georgia, 
he discovered that he who went out to teach others Chris- 
tianity was not a Christian himself; but had he been a 
Christian in that full, evangelical sense, which he meant; 
had he been that which he afterward became, not only 
would the exclusion of' Mrs. Williamson from the sacra- 
ment have been effected in another manner, but his mission 
to Georgia would probably have had a very different result. 

[* The affair above explained, and other matters respecting Mr. Wes- 
ley in Georgia, have been most unfairly and unjustly represented in 
various illiberal publications, and particularly in Lempriere's Biograph- 
ical Dictionary and Hale's History of the United States. The injustice 
done to Mr. Wesley's memory in the latter work is the more especially 
reprehensible, as pains have been taken to introduce it extensively into 
" schools." In this way many a youthful mind becomes prepossessed 
with strong early prejudice against one of the most devoted and the 
most honored embassadors for Christ that has ever graced any age or 
nation, since the day of the holy apostles. The influence of such preju- 
dices extends itself in after life as well to the Christian denomination! 
generally of which that eminent man was, under God, the founder, as to! 
his own memory. This the contrivers of such school publications well[ 
know; and it is this effect of such books particularly that greatly aggra- 
vates the injustice and the mischief, as it tends, in fact, seriously to impede 
the spread of the Gospel itself. In these circumstances it is with peculiar 
pleasure that we are now enabled to issue a Life of Wesley, which, as 
well from the celebrity of its eminent author and its own intrinsic excel- 
lence, as from its remarkable cheapness, will, we doubt not, have a most 
extensive circulation.— American Editor.] 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



53 



His preaching was defective in that one great point, which 
gives to preaching its real power over the heart — " Christ 
crucified;" and his spirit, although naturally frank and 
amiable, was not regenerated by that " power from on 
high," the first and leading fruits of which are meekness 
and charity. 

In the midst of his trials, Mr. Wesley received very 
consolatory letters from his friends, both in England and 
in America; and there were many in Georgia itself who 
rightly estimated the character and the labors of a man 
who held five or six public services on the Lord's day, in 
English, Italian, and French, for the benefit of a mixed 
population, who spent his whole time in works of piety 
and mercy, and who distributed his income so profusely in 
charity that, for many months together, he had not "one 
shilling in the house." His health, while in America, 
continued good; and it is in proof of the natural vigor of 
his constitution, that he exposed himself to every change 
of season, frequently slept on the ground, under the dews 
of the night in summer, and in winter with his hair and 
clothes frozen to the earth. He arrived in London, Feb- 
ruary 3, 1738, and, notwithstanding his many exercises, 
reviewed the result of his American labors with some 
satisfaction: "Many reasons I have to bless God for my 
having been carried into that strange land contrary to all 
my preceding resolutions. Hereby I trust he hath in some 
measure 'humbled me, and proved me, and shown me 
what was in my heart.' Hereby I have been taught to 
'beware of men.' Hereby God has given me to know 
many of his servants, particularly those of the Church of 
Hernhuth. Hereby my passage is open to the writings 
of holy men, in the German, Spanish, and Italian tongues. 
All in Georgia have heard the word of God; some have 
believed and began to run well. A few steps have been 
taken toward publishing the glad tidings both to the 

6* 



54 



THE LIFE OF 



African and American heathens. Many children have 
learned 'how they ought to serve God/ and to be useful 
to their neighbor. And those whom it most concerns have 
an opportunity of knowing the state of their infant colony, 
and laying a firmer foundation of peace and happiness to 
many generations/' j 



CHAPTER IV. 

The solemn review which Mr. Wesley made of the state 
of his religious experience, both on his voyage home and 
soon after his landing in England, deserves to be particu- 
larly noticed, both for general instruction, and because it 
stands in immediate connection with a point which has 
especially perplexed those who have attributed his charges 
against himself, as to the deficiency of his Christianity at 
this period, to a strange and fanatical fancy. By the most 
infallible of proofs, he tells us — that of his feelings — he 
was convinced of his having "no such faith in Christ" as 
prevented his heart from being troubled; and he earnestly 
prays to be "saved by such a faith as implies peace in life 
and death." "I went to America to convert the Indians; 
but 0, who shall convert me! Who is he that will deliver 
me from this evil heart of unbelief? I have a fair summer 
religion; I can talk well, nay, and believe myself, while 
no danger is present; but let death look me in the face, 
and my spirit is troubled, nor can I say, 'To die is gain/ 

4 1 have a sin of fear, that when I've spun 
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore.'" 

He thought, therefore, that a faith was attainable, which 
should deliver him entirely from guilty dread, and fill him 
with peace; but of this faith itself his notions were still 



REV. JOHN WESLEY". 



55 



confused. He manifestly regarded it, generally, as a 
principle of belief in the Gospel, which, by quickening his 
efforts to self-mortification and entire obedience, would 
raise him, through a renewed state of heart, into accept- 
ance and peace with God. This error is common. It 
regards faith, not so much as the personal trust of a guilty 
and helpless sinner upon Christ for salvation and all the 
gifts of spiritual life, but as working out sanctifying effects 
in the heart and life, partly by natural, partly by super- 
natural process, and thus producing peace of conscience. 
But he goes on with this interesting history of his heart. 

"I was early warned against laying too much stress on 
outward works, as the Papists do, or on faith without 
works, which, as it does not include, so it will never lead 
to true hope or charity.' ' (Journal.) 

Here he manifestly confounds the faith by which a man 
is justified, which certainly does not " include " in itself 
the moral effects of which he speaks, with the faith of a 
man who is in a justified state, which necessarily produces 
them because of that vital union into which it brings him 
with Christ, his Savior, by whom he is saved from the 
power and love, as well as from the guilt, of sin. 

"I fell among some Lutheran and Calvinistic authors, 
whose confused and indigested accounts magnified faith to 
such an amazing size, that it quite hid all the rest of the 
commandments." (Journal.) 

This is perhaps a proof that he did not understand these 
writers any more than he did the Moravians in Georgia, 
who failed to enlighten him on the subject of faith, 
although he saw that they in fact possessed a " peace 
through believing," which he had not, and yet painfully 
felt to be necessary. The writers he mentions probably 
represented faith only as necessary to justification; while 
he conceived them to teach that faith only is necessary to 
final salvation. 



56 



THE LIFE OF 



"The English writers, such as Bishop Beveridge, Bishop 
Taylor, and Mr. Nelson, a little relieved me from these 
well-meaning, wrong-headed Germans. Their accounts 
of Christianity I could easily see to be, in the main, con- 
sistent both with reason and Scripture." (Journal.) 

Beveridge would have met his case more fully than 
either Taylor or Nelson, had he been in a state of mind 
to comprehend him; and still better would he have been 
instructed by studying, with as much care as he examined 
Taylor and Law, the Homilies of his own Church, and 
the works of her older divines. 

The writings of the fathers then promised to give him 
farther satisfaction; but to them he at length took various 
exceptions. He finally resorted to the Mystic writers, 
"whose noble descriptions of union with God, and inter- 
nal religion, made every thing else appear mean, flat, and 
insipid. But in truth they made good works appear so 
too, yea, and faith itself, and what not? These gave me 
an entire new view of religion, nothing like any I had 
before. But, alas! it was nothing like that religion which 
Christ and his apostles lived and taught. I had a plenary 
dispensation from all the commands of God; the form ran 
thus, 'Love is all; all the commands beside are only 
means of love; you must choose those which you feel are 
means to you, and use them as long as they are so.' 
Thus were all the bands burst at once. And though I 
could never fully come into this, nor contentedly omit 
what God enjoined, yet, I know not how, I fluctuated 
between obedience and disobedience. I had no heart, no 
vigor, no zeal in obeying, continually doubting whether I 
was right or wrong, and never out of perplexities and 
entanglements. Nor can I at this hour give a distinct 
account how or when I came a little back toward the right 
way; only my present sense is this — all the other enemies 
of Christianity are triflers; the Mystics are the most 



REV. JOHS WESLEY. 



dangerous of its enemies. They stab it in the vitals; and 
its most serious professors are most likely to fall by them, 
May I praise Him who hath snatched me out of this fire 
likewise, by warning all others that it is set on fire of 
hell!" (Journal.) 

He was, however, delivered from the errors of the 
Mystics, only to be brought back to the point from which 
he set out; but his humble conclusions from the whole 
shows that the end of this long and painful struggle was 
about to be accomplished: he was now brought fully to 
feel and confess his utter helplessness, and was not "far 
from the kingdom of God." 

"And now," says he, "it is upward of two years since 
I left my native country, in order to teach the Georgia 
Indians the nature of Christianity; but what have I 
learned myself in the mean time? Why — what I least of 
all suspected — that I, who went to America to convert 
others, was never converted myself. 'I am not mad/ 
though I thus speak; but 'speak the words of truth and 
soberness;' if haply some of those who still dream may 
awake, and see, that as I am, so are they. 

"Are they read in philosophy? So was I. In ancient 
or modern tongues? So was I also. Are they versed in 
the science of divinity? I too have studied it many years. 
Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things? The very 
same I could do. Are they plenteous in alms? Behold, 
I give all my goods to feed the poor. 

"Do they give of their labor as well as their substance? 
I have labored more abundantly than they all. Are they 
willing to suffer for their brethren? I have thrown up my 
friends, reputation, ease, country; I have put my life in 
my hand, wandering into strange lands; I have given my 
body to be devoured by the deep, parched* up with heat, 
consumed by toil and weariness, or whatever God shall 
please to bring upon me. But does all this* — be it more 



58 



THE LIFE OF 



or less, it matters not — make me acceptable to God? 
Does all I ever did, or can know, say, give, do, or suffer, 
justify me in his sight? yea, or the constant use of all the 
means of grace? — which, nevertheless, is meet, right, and 
our bounden duty — or that I know nothing of myself, 
that I am, as touching outward, moral righteousness, 
blameless? or, to come closer yet, the having a rational 
conviction of all the truths of Christianity? Does all this 
give a claim to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a 
Christian? By no means. If the oracles of God are true, 
if we are still to abide by 'the law and the testimony,' all 
these things, though when ennobled by faith in Christ 
they are holy, and just, and good, yet without it are 
'dung and dross.' 

"This, then, have I learned in the ends of the earth, 
that I am 'fallen short of the glory of God;' that my 
whole heart is 'altogether corrupt and abominable,' and, 
consequently, my whole life — seeing it can not be, that 
'an evil tree' should 'bring forth good fruit;' that my 
own works, my own sufferings, my own righteousness, are 
so far from reconciling me to an offended God, so far from 
making any atonement for the least of those sins which 
' are more in number than the hairs of my head,' that the 
most specious of them need an atonement themselves, or 
they can not abide his righteous judgment; that having 
the sentence of death in my heart, and having nothing in 
or of myself to plead, I have no hope but that of being 
justified freely 'through the redemption that is in Jesus;' 
I have no hope, but that if I seek I shall find the Christ, 
and 'be found in him, not having my own righteousness 
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
eousness which is of God by faith.' 

"If it be said that I have faith — for many such things 
have I heard from many miserable comforters — I answer, 
So have the devils — <t sort of faith; but still they are 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



m 



strangers to the covenant of promise. So the apostles 
had even at Cana in Galilee, when Jesus first 'manifested 
forth his glory;' even then they, in a sort, 'believed on 
him;' but they had not then 'the faith that overcometh 
the world.' The faith I want is e a sure trust and confi- 
dence in God, that, through the merits of Christ, my sins 
are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favor of God.' I 
want that faith which St. Paul recommends to ail the 
world, especially in his Epistle to the Romans — that faith 
which enables every one that hath it to cry out, 'I live 
not; but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now 
live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and 
gave himself for me.' I want that faith which none has, 
without knowing that he hath it — though many imagine 
they have it, who have it not; for whosoever hath it is 
freed from sin; the whole 'body of sin is destroyed' in 
him: he is freed from fear, 'having peace with God 
through Christ, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of 
God.' And he is freed from doubt, 'having the love of 
God shed abroad in his heart, through the Holy Ghost, 
which is given unto him; which Spirit itself beareth 
witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God.' " 
(Journal.) 

A spirit thus breathing after God, and anxious to be 
taught "the way of God more perfectly," could not be 
left in its darkness and solicitude. A few days after his 
arrival in London, he met with Peter Bohler, a minister 
of the Moravian Church. This was on February 7th, 
which he marks as "a day much to be remembered," 
because the conversation which he had with Bohler on 
the subject of saving faith, a subject probably brought on 
by himself, first opened his mind to true views on that 
subject, notwithstanding the objections with which he 
assaulted the statements of the Moravian teacher, and 
which caused Bohler more than once to exclaim, "My 



60 



THE LIFE OF 



brother, that philosophy of yours must be purged away/' 
At Oxford, whither he had gone to visit Charles, who was 
sick, he again met with his Moravian friend, "by whom/' 
he says, "in the hand of the great God, I was clearly 
convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby 
alone we are saved with the full Christian salvation/ ' 

"He was now convinced that his faith had been too 
much separated from an evangelical view of the promises 
of a free justification, or pardon of sin, through the atone- 
ment and mediation of Christ alone, which was the reason 
why he had been held in continual bondage and fear." 
(Whitehead's Life.) In a few days he met Peter Bohler 
again — "who now," he says, "amazed me more and more, 
by the account he gave of the fruits of living faith, the 
holiness and happiness which he affirmed to attend it. 
The next morning I began the Greek Testament again, 
resolved to abide by 'the law and the testimony,' being 
confident that God would hereby show whether this doc- 
trine was of God." (Journal.) 

In a fourth conversation with this excellent man, he 
was still more confirmed in the view, "that faith is, to use 
the words of our Church, a sure trust and confidence 
which a man has in God, that, through the merit of 
Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the 
favor of God." Some of his objections to Bohler's state- 
ments on instantaneous conversion were also removed by 
a diligent examination of the Scriptures. "I had," he 
observes, "but one retreat left on this subject: Thus I 
grant God wrought in the first ages of Christianity; but 
the times are changed. What reason have I to believe he 
works in the same manner now? But, on Sunday, 22d, I 
was beat out of this retreat, too, by the concurring evi- 
dence of several living witnesses, who testified God had 
so wrought in themselves, giving them, in a moment, such 
a faith in the blood of his Son, as translated them out 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



61 



of darkness into light, and from sin and fear into holiness 
and happiness. Here ended my disputing. I could now 
only cry out, 'Lord, help thou my unbelief!' " 

He now began to declare that doctrine of faith which 
he had been taught; and those who were convinced of sin 
gladly received it. He was also much confirmed in the 
truth by hearing the experience of Mr. Hutchens. of Pem- 
broke College, and Mrs. Fox: "Two living witnesses," he 
says, "that God can, at least, if he does not always, give 
that faith whereof cometh salvation in a moment, as light- 
ning falling from heaven." (Journal.) 

Mr. Wesley and a few others now formed themselves 
into a religious society, which met in Fetter-lane. But 
although they thus assembled with the Moravians, they 
remained members of the Church of England; and after- 
ward, when some of the Moravian teachers introduced 
new doctrines, Mr. Wesley and his friends separated from 
them, and formed that distinct community which has since 
been known as "The Methodist Society." The rules of 
the Fetter-lane Society were printed under the title of 
"Orders of a Religious Society, meeting in Fetter-lane; in 
obedience to the command of God by St. James, and by 
the advice of Peter Bohler, in 1738." 

As yet Mr. Wesley had not attained the blessing for 
which he so earnestly sought, and now with clearer views. 
His language as to himself, though still that of complaint, 
was become, in truth, the language of a broken and a con- 
tritp heart. It was no longer in the tone of a man, disap- 
pjirjted as to the results of his own efforts, and thrown 
i/ito distressing perplexity, as not knowing where to turn 
for help. He was now bowed in lowly sorrow before the 
throne; but he knew that it was "the throne of grace;" 
and his cry was that of the publican, "God be merciful to 
me a sinner." In a letter to a friend, he says: 

"I feel what you say, though not enough: for I am 

6 



62 THE LIFE OF 

under the same condemnation. I see that the whole law 
of God is holy, just, and good. I know every thought, 
every temper of my soul, ought to bear God's image and 
superscription. But how am I fallen from the glory of 
God! I feel that 'I am sold under sin.' I know that I 
too deserve nothing but wrath, being full of all abomina- 
tions, and having no good thing in me to atone for them, 
or to remove the wrath of God. All my works, my right- 
eousness, my prayers, need an atonement for themselves. 
So that my mouth is stopped I have nothing to plead. 
God is holy: I am unholy. God is a consuming lire: I 
am altogether a sinner, meet to be consumed. 

"Yet I hear a voice — and is it not the voice of God? — 
saying, 'Believe and thou shalt be saved. He that be- 
lieveth is passed from death unto life. God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life.' " (Journal.) 

In this state of mind he continued till May 24, 1738, 
and then gives the following account of his conversion: 

"I think it was about five this morning, that I opened 
my Testament on those words, 'There are given unto us 
exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye 
might be partakers of the Divine nature/ 2 Peter i, 4. 
Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, 
'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.' In the 
afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul's. The anthem 
was, ' Out of the deep have I called unto thee, 0 Lord: 
Lord, hear my voice. 0 let thine ears consider well the 
voice of my complaint. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme 
to mark what is done amiss, 0 Lord, who may abide it? 
But there is mercy with thee; therefore thou shalt be 
feared. 0 Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord 
there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 
And he shall redeem Israel from all his sins.' 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



63 



"In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in 
Aldersgate-street, where one was reading Luther's preface 
to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before 
nine, while he was describing the change which God 
works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my 
heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, 
Christ alone for salvation: and an assurance was given 
me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and 
saved me from 'the law of sin and death.' 

"I began to pray with all my might, for those who had 
in a more especial manner despite fully used me, and per- 
secuted me. I then testified openly to all there, what I 
now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the 
enemy suggested, ' This can not be faith, for where is thy 
joy?' Then was I taught, that peace and victory over 
sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation; 
but that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend 
the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned 
deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth 
them, according to the counsels of his own will." (Jour- 
nal.) 

After this he had some struggles with doubt; but he • 
proceeded from " strength to strength," till he could say, 
"Xow I was always conqueror." His experience, nur- 
tured by habitual prayer, and deepened by unwearied 
exertion in the cause of his Savior, settled into that stead- 
fast faith and solid peace, which the grace of God per- 
fected in him to the close of his long and active life. 

His brother Charles was also made partaker of the same 
grace. They had passed together through the briers and 
thorns, through the perplexities and shadows of the legal 
wilderness, and the hour of their deliverance was not far 
separated. Bohler visited Charles in his sickness at Ox- 
ford, but the "pharisee within" was somewhat offended 
when the honest German shook his head at learning that 



64 



THE LIFE OK 



Kg hope of salvation rested upon "his best endeavors." 
After his recovery, the reading of Halyburton's Life pro- 
duced in him a sense of his want of that faith which 
brings "peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Bohler vis- 
ited him again in London, and he began seriously to con- 
sider the doctrine which he urged upon him. His convic- 
tions of his state of danger, as a man unjustified before 
God, and of his need of the faith whereof cometh salva- 
tion, increased, ajtld be spent his whole time in discoursing 
on these; subjects, in prayer, and reading the Scriptures. 
Luther on the Galatians then fell into his hands, and on 
reading the preface he observes: 

"I marveled that wc were so soon and entirely removed 
from him that called us into the grace of God, to another 
Gospel. Who would believe that our Church had been 
founded on this important article of justification by faith 
alone? I am astonished I should ever think this a new 
doctrine; especially while our Articles and Homilies stand 
unrepealed, and the key of knowledge is not yet taken 
away. From this time I endeavored to ground as many 
of our friends as came to see me in this fundamental 
truth — salvation by faith alone — not an idle, dead faith, 
but a faith which works by love, and is incessantly pro- 
ductive of all good works and all holiness." (Journal.) 

"On Whitsunday, May 21st, he awoke in hope and 
expectation of soon attaining the object of his wishes, the 
knowledge of God reconciled in Christ Jesus. At nine 
o'clock his brother and some friends came to him and 
sung a hymn suited k> the day. When they left him he 
betook himself to prayer. Soon afterward a person came 
and said, in a very solemn manner, 'Believe in the name 
of Jesus of Nazareth and thou shalt be healed of all thine 
infirmities.' The words went through his heart, and ani- 
mated him with confidence. He looked into the Scripture, 
and read, 'Now Lord, what is my hope? truly my hope i3 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



even in thee.' He then cast his eye on these words, 'He 
hath put a new song into my mouth, even thanksgiving 
unto our God; many shall see it and fear, and put their 
trust in the Lord.' Afterward he opened upon Isaiah 
xl, 1: ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith our God; 
speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that 
her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, 
for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all 
her sins.' In reading these passages of Scripture, he 
was enabled to view Christ as set forth to be a propitiation 
for his sins, through faith in his blood; and he received 
that peace and rest in God which he had so earnestly 
sought. 

"The next day he greatly rejoiced in reading the 107th 
Psalm, so nobly descriptive, he observes, of what God had 
done for his soul. He had a very humbling view of his 
own weakness, but was enabled to contemplate Christ in 
his power to save to the uttermost all those who come to 
God by him." (Whitehead's Life.) 

Such was the manner in which these excellent men, 
whom God had been long preparing for the great work of 
reviving Scriptural Christianity throughout these lands, 
were at length themselves brought "into the liberty of 
the sons of God." On the account thus given, a few ob- 
servations may not be misplaced. 

It is easy to assail with ridicule such disclosures of the 
exercises of minds impressed with the great concern of 
salvation, and seeking for deliverance from a load of anx- 
iety in " a way which they had not known;" and flippantly 
to resolve all these shadowings of doubt, these dawnings 
of hope, and the joyous influence of the full day of salva- 
tion, as some have done, into fancy, nervous affection, or 
natural constitution. To every truly-serious mind, these 
will, however, appear subjects of a momentous character; 
and no one will proceed either safely or soberly to judge 

6* 



66 



THE LIFE OF 



of them, who does not previously inquire into the doctrine 
of the New Testament on the subject of human salvation, 
and apply the principles which he may find there, authen- 
ticated fay infallible inspiration, to the examination of such 
cases. If it be there declared that the state of man by 
nature, and so long as he remains unforgiven by his of- 
fended God, is a state of awful peril, then the all-absorbing 
seriousness of that concern for deliverance from spiritual 
danger, which was exhibited by the Wesleys, is a feeling 
becoming our condition, and is the only rational frame of 
mind which we can cultivate. If we are required to be 
of "a humble and broken spirit/' and if the very root of 
a true repentance lies in a " godly sorrow" for sin, then 
their humiliations and self-reproaches were in correspond- 
ence with a state of heart which is enjoined upon all 
by an authority which we can not dispute. If the ap- 
pointed method of man's salvation, laid down in the Gos- 
pel, be gratuitous pardon through faith in the merits of 
Christ's sacrifice, and if a method of seeking justification 
by works of moral obedience to the divine law be plainly 
placed by St. Paul in opposition to this, and declared to be 
vain and fruitless, then, if in this way the Wesleys sought 
their justification before God, we see how true their own 
statement must of necessity have been, that with all theii 
efforts they could obtain no solid peace of mind, no deliv- 
erance from the enslaving fear of death and final punish- 
ment, because they sought that by imperfect works which 
God has appointed to be attained by faith alone. If it be 
said, that their case was not parallel to that of the self- 
righteous Jews, who did not receive the Christian religion, 
and, therefore, that the argument of the apostle does not 
apply to those who believe the Gospel, it will remain to be 
inquired, whether the circumstance of a mere belief in 
the Christian system, when added to works of imperfect 
obedience, makes any essential difference- in the case; or, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



07 



in other words, whether justification may not be sought 
by endeavors to obey the law, although the Judaism 
necessarily implied in it may be arrayed in the garb of 
Christian terms and phrases. If, indeed, by "works of 
the law" St. Paul had meant only the ceremonial observ- 
ances of the Jewish Church, the case would be altered; 
but his Epistle to the Romans puts it beyond all doubt, 
that in his argument respecting justification he speaks of 
the moral law, since his grand reason to prove that by the 
works of the law no man can be justified, is, that "by the 
law is the knowledge of sin." That law is recognized and 
embodied in the JSew Testament, but its first office there is 
to give "the knowledge of sin," that men may be con- 
vinced, or, as St. Paul forcibly says, "slain" by it: and 
it stands there in connection with the atonement for sin 
made by the sacrifice upon the cross. ]Sor is the faith 
which delivers men from the condemnation of a law which 
has been broken, and never can be perfectly kept by man, 
a mere belief in the truth of the doctrine of Christ, but 
reliance upon his sacrifice, in which consists that personal 
act by which we become parties to the covenant of free 
and gratuitous justification; and which then only stands 
sure to us, because then only we accept the mercy of God, 
as exercised toward us through Christ, and on the pre- 
scribed conditions. If, therefore, in the matter of our 
justification, like the Wesleys before they obtained clearer 
light, and the divines who were their early guides, we 
change the office of the moral law, though we may still 
regard it as in some way connected with the Gospel, and 
call it by the general term of Christianity, of which it, in 
truth, forms the preceptive part, and resort to it, not that 
we may be convinced of the greatness of our sins, and of 
our utter inability to commend ourselves to a holy God, 
the requirements of whose law have never been relaxed, 
but as the means of qualifying ourselves, by efforts of 



68 



THE LIFE OF 



obedience to it, for the reception of divine mercy, and 
acquiring a fitness and worthiness for the exercise of grace 
toward us, then we reject the perfection and suitableness 
of the atonement of Christ; we refuse to commit our whole 
case in the matter of our justification to that atonement, 
according to the appointment of God, and as much seek 
justification by works of the law as did the Jews them- 
selves. Such was the case with the Wesleys, as stated by 
themselves. Theirs was not, indeed, a state of heartless 
formality, and self-deluding Pharisaism, aiming only at 
external obedience. It was just the reverse of this: they 
were awakened to a sense of danger, and they aimed, nay, 
struggled with intense efforts after universal holiness, in- 
ward and outward. But it was not a state of salvation: 
and if we find a middle state like this described in the 
Scriptures — a state in transit from dead formality to living 
faith and moral deliverance — the question with .respect to 
the truth of their representations, as to their former state 
of experience, is settled. Such a middle state we see 
plainly depicted by the apostle Paul in the seventh chap- 
ter of the Epistle to the Romans. There the mind of the 
person described " consents to the law that it is good," but 
finds in it only greater discoveries of his sinfulness and 
danger; there the effort, too, is after universal holiness — 
"to will is present," but the power is wanting; every 
struggle binds the chain tighter; sighs and groans are ex- 
torted, till self-despair succeeds, and the true Deliverer is 
seen and trusted in: "0 wretched man that I am! who 
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" I thank 
God through Jesus Christ my Lord.* The deliverance, 

* "All the time I was at Savannah I was thus beating- the air. Being 
ignorant of the righteousness of Christ, which, by a living faith in him, 
bringeth salvation l to every one that believeth,' I sought to establish my 
own righteousness, and so labored in the fire all my days. I was now 
properly under the law; I knew that 'the law of God was spiritual;* 1 1 
consented to it that it was good. Yea, I delighted in it after the inner man.' 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



69 



also, in the case described by St. Paul, is marked with the 
same characters as that exhibited in the conversion of the 
Wesleys: " There is now no condemnation to them that are 
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
Spirit; for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 
made me free from the law of sin and death;" "Therefore, 
being justified b}^ faith, we have peace with God, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." Every thing in the account of the 
change wrought in the two brothers, and several of their 
friends about the same time, answers, therefore, to the 
Kew Testament. ISTor was their experience, or the doc- 
trine upon which it was founded, new, although in that 
age of declining piety unhappily not common. The Mora- 
vian statement of justifying faith was that of all the 
Churches of the Reformation; and through Peter Bohler 
Mr. Wesley came first to understand the true doctrine of 
that Church of which he was a clergyman. His mind was 
never so fully imbued with the letter and spirit of that 

Yet I was 4 carnal, sold under sin.' Every day was I constrained to cry 
out, 'What I do, I allow not; for what I would I do not, but what I hate, 
that I do. To will is indeed present with me; but how to perform that 
which is good, 1 find not. For the good which I w T ould I do not; but the 
evil which I would not, that I do. I find a law, that when I would do 
good, evil is present with me: even the law in my members warring 
against the law of my mind, and still bringing me into captivity to the law 
of sin.' 

4 In this state I was. indeed, fighting continually, but not conquering. 
Before, I had willingly served sin; now it was unwillingly; but still I 
served it. I fell and rose, and fell again. Sometimes I was overcome, 
and in heaviness: sometimes I overcame, and was in joy. For, as in the 
former state 1 had some foretastes of the terrors of the law, so had I in 
this of the comforts of the Gospel. During this whole struggle between 
nature and grace, which had now continued above ten years, I had many 
remarkable returns to prayer, especially when I was in trouble: I had 
many sensible comforts, which are indeed no other than short anticipa- 
tions of the life of faith. But 1 was still under the law, not under grace, 
the state most who are called Christians are content to live and die in. 
For I was only striving with, not freed from, sin; neither had I 'the wit- 
ness of the Spirit with my spirit.' And, indeed, could not; for * I sought it 
not by faith, but, as it were, by the works of the law." (Wesley's 
Journal.) 



70 



THE LIFE OF 



Article in which she has so truly interpreted St. Paul as 
when he learned from him, almost in the words of the 
Article itself, that ' 'we are justified by faith only;" and 
that this is " a most wholesome doctrine." For tie joyous 
change of Mr. "Wesley's feelings, upon his persuasion of 
his personal interest in Christ through faith, those persons 
who, like Dr. Southey, (Life of Wesley,) have bestowed 
upon it several philosophic solutions, might have found a 
better reason had they either consulted St. Paul, who says, 
"We joy in God, by whom we have received the recon- 
ciliation," or their own Church, which has emphatically 
declared that the doctrine of justification by faith is not 
only very wholesome, but also "very full of comfort." 



CHAPTER V. 

From this time Mr. Wesley commenced that laborious 
and glorious ministry, which directly or indirectly was 
made the instrument of the salvation of a multitude, not 
to be numbered till "the day which shall make all things 
manifest." That which he had experienced he preached 
to others, with the confidence of one who had "the wit- 
ness in himself;" and with a fullness of sympathy for all 
who wandered in paths of darkness and distress, which 
could not but be inspired by the recollection of his own 
former perplexities. 

At this period the religious and moral state of the nation 
was such as to give the most serious concern to the few 
remaining faithful. There is no need to draw a picture 
darker than the truth, to add importance to the labors of 
the two Wesley s, Mr. Whitefield, and their associates. 
The view here taken has often been drawn by pens uncon- 
nected with and hostile to Methodism. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



7J 



The Reformation from Popery which so much promoted 
the instruction of the populace in Scotland, did much less 
for the people of England, a great majority of whose lower 
classes, at the time of the rise of Methodism, were even 
ignorant of the art of reading, in many places were semi- 
barbarous in their manners, and had been rescued from 
the superstitions of Popery, only to be left ignorant of 
every thing beyond a few vague and general notions of 
religion. Great numbers were destitute even of these; 
and there are still agricultural districts in the southern and 
western counties, where the case is not, even at this mo- 
ment, much improved. A clergyman has lately asserted 
in print, that in many villages of Devonshire the only form 
of prayer still taught to their children by the peasantry, 
are the goodly verses handed down from their Popish an- 
cestors, 

M Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
Bless the bed that I lie on," etc. 

The degree of ignorance on all Scriptural subjects, and 
of dull, uninquiring irreligiousness which prevails in many 
other parts, is well known to those who have turned their 
attention to such inquiries, and would be incredible to those 
who have not.* A great impression was made in many 
places by the zealous preachers who sprang forth at the 
Reformation; and, in the large towns especially, they turned 
many of the people "from darkness to light." But the 
great body of the Popish parish priests went round with 
the Reformation, without conviction, and performed the 
new service, as they performed the old, in order to hold 
fast their livings. As what was called Puritanism pre- 
vailed, more zealous preaching and more careful instruc- 
tion were employed; and by such ministers as the two 

* By far the greater number of the peasants in Hampshire and Berkshire, 
lately tried under the special commissions for riots and stack-burning were 
found unable to read. 



72 



THE LIFE OF 



thousand who were silenced by the act of uniformity, with 
many equally excellent men who conformed to the re-estab- 
lished Church, a great body of religious and well-instructed 
people were raised up; and, indeed, before the civil wars 
commenced the nation might be said to be in a state of 
hopeful moral improvement. These troubles, however, 
arose before the effect produced upon a state of society 
sunk very low in vice and ignorance could be widely ex- 
tended; and the keen and ardent political feelings which 
were then excited, and the demoralizing effects of civil 
warfare, greatly injured the spirit of piety, by occupying 
the attention of men, and rousing their passions by other, 
and often unhallowed, subjects. The effect was as inju- 
rious upon the advocates of the old Church discipline as 
upon those of the new, and probably worse; because it 
did not meet in them, for the most part, with principles 
so genuine and active to resist it. In many of the latter 
Antinomianism and fanaticism became conspicuous; but in 
the former a total irreligion, or a lifeless formality, pro- 
duced a haughty dislike of the spiritualities of religion, or 
a sneering contempt of them. The mischief was com- 
pleted by the restoration of the Stuarts; for whatever 
advantages were gained by that event in a civil sense, it 
let in a flood of licentiousness and impiety, which swept 
away almost every barrier that had been raised in the 
public mind by the labors of former ages. Infidelity began 
its ravages upon the principles of the higher and middle 
classes; the mass of the people remained uneducated, and 
were Christians but in name and by virtue of their bap- 
tism; while many of the great doctrines of the Reformation 
were banished both from the universities and the pulpits. 
Archbishop Leighton complains that his " Church was a 
fair carcass without a spirit and Burnet observes, that 
in his time ' ' the clergy had less authority, and were under 
more contempt, than those of any Church in Europe; for 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



72 



they were much the most remiss in their labors, and the 
least severe in their lives." Nor did the case much amend 
up to the period of which we speak. Dr. Southey says, 
that "from the Restoration to the accession of the House 
of Hanover the English Church could boast of its bright- 
est ornaments and ablest defenders, men who have never 
been surpassed in erudition, in eloquence, or in strength 
and subtilty of mind." This is true; but it is equally so, 
that, with very few exceptions, these great powers were 
not employed to teach, defend, and inculcate the doctrines 
of that Church on personal religion as it is taught in her 
Liturgy, her Articles, and her Homilies, but what often 
was subversive of them; and the very authority, therefore, 
which such writers acquired by their learned and able 
works was in many respects mischievous. They stood be- 
tween the people and the better divines of the earlier age of 
the Church, and put them out of sight; and they set an ex- 
ample of preaching which, being generally followed, placed 
the pulpit and the desk at perpetual variance, and reduced 
an evangelical liturgy to a dead form, which was repeated 
without thought, or so explained as to take away its mean- 
ing. A great proportion of the clergy, whatever other 
learning they might possess, were grossly ignorant of 
theology, and contented themselves with reading short 
unmeaning sermons, purchased or pilfered, and formed 
upon the lifeless theological system of the day. A little 
Calvinism remained in the Church, and a little evangelical 
Arminianism; but the prevalent divinity was Pelagian, or 
what very nearly approached it. Natural religion was 
the great subject of study, when theology was studied at 
all, and was made the test and standard of revealed truth. 
The doctrine of the opus operatum of the Papists, as to 
sacraments, was the faith of the divines of the older 
school: and a refined system of ethics, unconnected with 
Christian motives, and disjoined from the vital principles 

7 



74 



THE LIFE OF 



of religion in the heart, was the favorite theory of the 
modern. The body of the clergy neither knew nor cared 
about systems of any kind. In a great number of in- 
stances they were negligent and immoral; often grossly so. 
The populace of the large towns were ignorant and profli- 
gate; and the inhabitants of villages added to ignorance 
and profligacy brutish and barbarous manners. A more 
striking instance of the rapid deterioration of religious 
light and influence in a country scarcely occurs, than in 
our own, from the Restoration till the rise of Methodism. 
It affected not only the Church, but the dissenting sects in 
no ordinary degree. The Presbyterians had commenced 
their course through Arianism down to Socinianism; and 
those who held the doctrines of Calvin had, in too many 
instances, by a course of hot-house planting, luxuriated 
them into the fatal and disgusting errors of Antinomianism. 
There were indeed many happy exceptions; but this was 
the general state of religion and morals in the country, 
when the Wesleys, Whitefield, and a few kindred spirits 
came forth, ready to sacrifice ease, reputation, and even 
life itself, to produce a reformation. 

Before Mr. Wesley entered upon the career which after- 
ward distinguished him, and having no preconceived plan 
or course of conduct, but to seek good for himself, and to 
do good to others, he visited the Moravian settlements in 
Germany. On his journey he formed an acquaintance 
with several pious ministers in Holland and Germany; and 
at Marienbourn was greatly edified by the conversation of 
Count Zinzendorf, and others of the brethren, of whose 
views he did not, however, in all respects, even then ap- 
prove. From thence he proceeded to Hernhuth, where he 
staid a fortnight, conversing with the elders, and observing 
the economy of that Church, part of which, with modifi- 
cations, he afterward introduced among his own societies. 
The sermons of Christian David especially interested him; 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



and of one of them, on "the ground of our faith /' he 
gives the substance; which we may insert, both as excel- 
lent in itself, and as it so well agrees with what Mr. Wes- 
ley afterward uniformly taught: 

" The word of reconciliation which the apostles preached, " 
as the foundation of all they taught, was, that 'we are 
reconciled to God, not by our own works, nor by our own 
righteousness, but wholly and solely by the blood of 

"But you will say, Must I not grieve and mourn for my 
sins? Must I not humble myself before my God? Is not 
this just and right? And must I not first do this before I 
can expect God to be reconciled to me? I answer, It is 
just and right. You must be humbled before God. You 
must have a broken and contrite heart. But then observe, 
this is not your own work. Do you grieve that you are a 
sinner? This is the work of the Holy Ghost. Are you 
contrite? Are you humbled before God? Do you indeed 
mourn, and is your heart broken within you? All this 
worketh the self-same Spirit. 

"Observe again, this is not the foundation. It is not 
this by which you are justified. This is not the righteous- 
ness, this is no part of the righteousness, by which you are 
reconciled to God. You grieve for your sins. You are 
deeply humble. Your heart is broken. Well. But all 
this is nothing to your justification.* The remission of 
your sins is not owing to this cause, either in whole or in 
part. Nay, observe farther, that it may hinder your jus- 
tification; that is, if you build any thing upon it; if you 
think, I must be so or so contrite: I must grieve more, 
before I can be justified. Understand this well. To think 
you must be more contrite, more humble, more grieved, 

* " This is not guarded. These things do not merit our justification, but 
they are absolutely necessary in order to it. God never pardons the im- 
penitent." (Wesley's Journal.) 



76 



THE LIFE OF 



more sensible of the weight of sin, before you can be jus- 
tified, is, to lay your contrition, your grief, your humilia- 
tion for the foundation of your being justified: at least for 
a part of the foundation. Therefore, it hinders your justi- 
fication; and a hinderance it is which must be removed, 
before you can lay the right foundation. The right founda- 
tion is, not your contrition — though that is not your own — • 
not your righteousness, nothing of your own; nothing tha 
is wrought in you by the Holy Ghost; but it is something 
without you; namely, the righteousness and blood of 
Christ. 

"For this is the word, 'To him that belie veth on God 
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for right- 
eousness.' See ye not, that the foundation is nothing in 
us? There is no connection between God and the ungodly. 
There is no tie to unite them. They are altogether sepa- 
rate from each other. They have nothing in common. 
There is nothing less or more in the ungodly, to join them 
to God. Works, righteousness, contrition? No. Ungod- 
liness only. This, then, do, if you will lay a right founda- 
tion: go straight to Christ with all your ungodliness. 
Tell him, Thou whose eyes are as a flame of fire, search- 
ing my heart, seest that I am ungodly. I plead nothing 
else. ' I do not say, I am humble or contrite; but I am 
ungodly. Therefore, bring me to him that justifieth the 
ungodly. Let thy blood be the propitiation for me; for 
there is nothing in me but ungodliness. 

"Here is a mystery. Here the wise men of the world 
are lost, are taken in their own craftiness. This the 
learned of the world can not comprehend. It is foolishness 
to them. Sin is the only thing which divides men from 
God. Sin — let him that heareth understand — is the only 
thing which unites them to God; that is, the only thing I 
which moves the Lamb of God to have compassion upon 
them, and by his blood to give them access to the Father. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



77 



" This is the word of reconciliation which we preach. 
This is the foundation which never can be moved. By 
faith we are built upon this foundation; and this faith also 
is the gift of God. It is his free. gift, which he now and 
ever giveth to every one that is willing to receive it. And 
when they have received this gift of God, then their hearts 
will melt for sorrow that they have offended him. But 
this gift of God lives in the heart, not in the head. The 
faith of the head, learned v from men or books, is nothing 
worth. It brings neither remission of sins nor peace with 
God. Labor then to believe with your whole heart. So 
shall you have redemption through the blood of Christ. 
So shall you be cleansed from all sin. So shall ye go on 
from strength to strength, being renewed day by day in 
righteousness and all true holiness.' ' (Journal.) 

"I would gladly," says Mr. Wesley, "have spent my 
life here; but my Master calling me to labor in another 
part of his vineyard, I was constrained to take my leave 
of this happy place. 0 when shall this Christianity cover 
the earth, as the 'waters cover the sea!' " He adds in 
another place, "I was exceedingly comforted and strength- 
ened by the conversation of this lovely people; and re- 
turned to England more fully determined to spend my life 
in testifying the Gospel of the grace of God." (Journal.) 

He arrived in London in September, 1738. His futuie 
course of life does not appear to have been shaped out in 
his mind; no indication of this appears in any of his let- 
ters, or other communication: so little ground is there for 
the insinuation, which has been so often made, that he 
early formed the scheme of making himself the head of 
a sect. This, even those inconsistencies, considering him 
as a Churchman, into which circumstances afterward im- 
pelled him, sufficiently refute. That he was averse to 
settle as a parish minister is certain; and the man who 
regarded "the world as his parish" must have had large 

7* 



78 



THE LIFE OF 



views of usefulness. That he kept in mind the opinion 
of the bishop who ordained him, that he was at liberty 
to decline settling as a parish priest, provided he thought 
that he could serve the Church better in any other way, 
is very probable; and if he had any fixed purpose at all, 
at this time, beyond what circumstances daily opened to 
him, and from which we might infer the path of duty, it 
was to attempt to revive the spirit of religion in the Church 
to which he belonged and which he loved, by preaching 
"the Gospel of the grace of God" in as many of her 
pulpits as he should be permitted to occupy. This was 
the course he pursued. Wherever he was invited, he 
preached the obsolete doctrine of salvation by grace 
through faith. In London great crowds followed him; 
the clergy generally excepted to his statement of the 
doctrine; the genteeler part of his audiences, whether 
they attended to the sermon or not, were offended at the 
bustle of crowded congregations; and soon almost all the 
churches of the metropolis, one after another, were shut 
against him. He had, however, largely labored in various 
parts of the metropolis in churches, rooms, houses, and 
prisons; and the effects produced were powerful and last- 
ing. Soon after we find him in Oxford, employed in 
writing to his friends abroad, communicating the good 
news of a great awakening both in London and in that 
city. To Dr. Koker, of Rotterdam, he writes, October 13, 
1738: "His blessed Spirit has wrought so powerfully both 
in London and Oxford, that there is a general awakening, 
and multitudes are crying out, What must we do to be 
saved? So that, till our gracious Master sendeth more 
laborers into his harvest, all my time is much too little 
for them." And to the Church at Hernhuth, he writes 
under the same date: "We are endeavoring here, also, 
by the grace which is given us, to be followers of you, as 
ye are of Christ. Fourteen were added to us since our 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



79 



return; so that we have now eight bands of men, consist- 
ing of fifty-six persons, all of whom seek for salvation 
only in the blood of Christ. As yet we have only two 
small bands of women, the one of three, the other of five 
persons. But here are many others' who only wait till 
we have leisure to instruct them how they may most 
effectually build up one another in the faith and love of 
Him who gave himself for them. 

"Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach 
in most of the churches in London, yet, thanks be to God! 
there are others left, wherein we have liberty to speak the 
truth as it is in Jesus. Likewise every evenmsr, and on 
set evenings in the week, at two several places, we publish 
the word of reconciliation, sometimes to twenty or thirty, 
sometimes to fifty or sixty, sometimes to three or four 
hundred persons met together to hear it." 

In December he met Mr. Whitefield, who had returned 
to London from America, "and they again took sweet 
counsel together." In the spring of the next year, he 
followed Mr. Whitefield to Boston, where he had preached 
with great success in the open air. Mr. Wesley first 
expounded to a little society,* accustomed to meet in 
Nicholas -street; and the next day he overcame his scruples, 

* The "societies" which Mr. Wesley mentions in his journals as 
visited by him, for the purpose of expounding; the Scriptures, in London 
and Bristol, were the remains of those which Dr. Woodward describes, 
in an account first published about the year 1698 or 1699. They began, 
about the rear 1667, among a few young men in London, who, under Dr. 
Horneck's preaching, and the morning lectures in Cornhill, were brought, 
says Dr. Woodward, tl to a very affecting sense of their sins, and began 
to apply themselves in a very serious way to religious thoughts and pur- 
poses." They were advised by their ministers to meet together weekly 
for l 'good discourse;" and rules were drawn up 11 for the better regula- 
tion of these meetings." They contributed weekly for the use of the 
poor, and stewards were appointed to take care of and to disburse their 
charities. In the latter part of the reign of James II, they met with 
discouragement; but on the accession of William and Mary they acquired 
new vigor. When Dr. Woodward wrote his account, there were about 
forty of these societies in activity, within the bills of mortality, a few in 



80 



THE LIFE OF 



and preached abroad, on an eminence near the city, to 
more than two thousand persons. On this practice he 
observes, that though till lately he had been so tenacious 
of every point relating to decency and order, that he 
should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if 
it had not been done in a church, yet, "I have since seen 
abundant reason to adore the wise providence of God 
herein, making a way for myriads of people, who never 
troubled any church or were likely so to do, to hear that 
word which they soon found to be the power of God to 
salvation." 

The manner in which he rilled up his time may be seen 
from the following account of his weekly labors at this 
period, at or near Bristol. "My ordinary employment in 
public was now as follows: Every morning I read prayers 
and preached at Newgate. Every evening I expounded a 
portion of Scripture, at one or more of the societies. On 
Monday in the afternoon I preached abroad near Bristol. 

the country, and nine in Ireland. Out of these societies about twenty as- 
sociations arose, in London, for the prosecution and suppression of vice; 
and both these, and the private societies for religious edification, had for 
a time much encouragement from several bishops, and from the queen 
herself. By their rules they were obliged, at their weekly meetings, to 
discourse only on such subjects as tended to practical holiness, and to 
avoid all controversy; and beside relieving the poor, they were to pro- 
mote schools, and the catechising of " young and ignorant persons in their 
respective families." ' These societies certainly opened a favorable pros- 
pect for the revival of religion in the Church of England; but, whether 
they were cramped by clerical jealousy lest laymen should become too 
active in spiritual concerns; or that from their being bound by their 
orders to prosecute vice by calling in the aid of the magistrate, their 
moral influence among the populace was counteracted; they appear 
to have declined from about 1710; and although several societies still 
remained in London, Bristol, and a few other places, at the time when 
Mr. Wesley commenced his labors, they were not in a state of growth 
and activity. They had, however, been the means of keeping the spark 
of piety from entire extinction. The sixth edition of Dr. Woodward's 
account of these societies was published in 1744; but from that time we 
hear no more of them; they either gradually died away, or were ab- 
sorbed in the Methodist societies. This at least was the case with several 
of them in London and Bristol ; and with that of St, Ives, in Cornwall. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



81 



On Tuesday at Bath and Two Mile Hill, alternately. On 
Wednesday at Baptist Mills. Every other Thursday, near 
Pensford. Every other Friday, in another part of Kings- 
wood. On Saturday in the afternoon, and Sunday morn- 
ing, in the Bowling Green. On Sunday at eleven near 
Hannam Mount, at two at Clifton, at five at Rose 
Green. And hitherto, as my day is, so is my strength." 
(Journal.) 

During Mr. Wesley's visit to Germany, his brother 
Charles was zealously employed in preaching the same 
doctrines, and with equal zeal, in the churches in London; 
and in holding meetings for prayer jmd expounding the 
Scriptures. At this time he also visited Oxford, and was 
made useful to several of his old college friends. When 
his brother returned from Hernhuth, he met him with 
great joy in London, and they " compared their experience 
in the things of God." The doctrine of predestination, 
on which so many disputes have arisen in the Church, and 
which was soon to be warmly debated among the first 
Methodists, was soon after started at a meeting for expo- 
sition. Mr. Charles contented himself with simply pro- 
testing against it. He now first began to preach extempore. 
In a conference which the brothers had with the bishop 
of London, they cleared up some complaints as to their 
doctrine which he had received against them, and were 
upon the whole treated by him with liberality. He 
strongly disapproved, however, of their practice of re- 
baptizing persons who had been baptized by Dissenters, 
in which they exhibited the firm hold which their High 
Church feelings still retained upon their minds. His 
lordship showed himself, in this respect, not only more 
liberal, but better versed in ecclesiastical law and usage. 
The bishop at this, and at other interviews, guarded them 
strongly against Antinomianism, of which, however, they 
were in no danger. He was probably alarmed, as many 



82 THE LIFE OF 

had been, at the stress they laid on faith, not knowing the 
necessary connection of the faith they preached with uni- 
versal holiness. Mr. Whitefield was at this time at Ox- 
ford, and pressed Charles earnestly to accept a college 
living; which, as Dr. Whitehead justly observes, "gives 
pretty clear evidence that no plan of itinerant preaching 
was yet fixed on, nor indeed thought of: had any such 
plan been in agitation among them, it is very certain Mr. 
Whitefield would not have urged this advice on Mr. Charles 
Wesley, whom he loved as a brother, and whose labors he 
highly esteemed." (Whitehead's Life.) 

About this time some disputes took place, in the Fetter- 
lane Society, as to lay -pre aching, and Mr. Charles Wesley, 
in the absence of his brother, declared warmly against 
it. He had, also, while Mr. John Wesley was still at 
Bristol, a painful interview at Lambeth, with the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. His grace took no exceptions to 
his doctrine, but condemned the irregularity of his pro- 
ceedings, and even hinted at proceeding to excommuni- 
cation. This threw him into great perplexity of mind, till 
Mr. Whitefield, with characteristic boldness, urged him to 
preach "in the fields the next Sunday: by which step he 
would break down the bridge, render his retreat difficult 
or impossible, and be forced to fight his way forward." 
This advice he followed. "June 24th, I prayed," says 
he, "and went forth in the name of Jesus Christ. I found 
near a thousand helpless sinners waiting for the word in 
Moorfields. I invited them in my Master's words, as well 
as name: Come unto 7ne, all ye that labor and are heavy- 
laden, and I ivill give you rest. The Lord was with me, 
even me, the meanest of his messengers, according to his 
promise. At St. Paul's, the psalms, lessons, etc., for the 
day, put new life into me; and so did the sacrament. My 
load was gone, and all my doubts and scruples. God 
shone on my path, and I knew this was his will concerning 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



S3 



me. I walked to Kennington Common, and cried to multi- 
tudes upon multitudes, Repent ye, and believe the Gospel. 
The Lord was my strength, and my mouth, and my wis- 
dom. 0 that all would therefore praise the Lord for his 
goodness !" 

At Oxford, also, he had to sustain the severity of the 
dean on the subject of field-preaching; but he seized the 
opportunity of bearing his testimony to the doctrine of 
justification by faith, by preaching with great boldness 
before the university. On his return to London, he re- 
sumed field -pre aching in Moorfields, and on Kennington 
Common. At one time it was computed that as many as 
ten thousand persons were collected, and great numbers 
were roused to a serious inquiry after religion. His word 
was occasionally attended with an overwhelming influence. 

That great public attention should be excited by these 
extraordinary and novel proceedings, and that the digni- 
taries of the Church, and the advocates of stillness and 
order, should take the alarm at them, as " doubting where- 
unto this thing might grow," were inevitable consequences. 
A doctrine so obsolete, that on its revival it was regarded 
as new and dangerous, was now publicly ^h'oclaimed as 
the doctrine of the apostles and reformers; the conscious- 
ness of forgiveness of sins was professed by many, and 
enforced as the possible attainment of all; several clergy- 
men of talents and learning, which would have given 
influence to any cause, endued with mighty zeal, and with 
a restless activity, instead of settling in parishes, were 
preaching in various churches and private rooms, and to 
vast multitudes in the open air, alternately in the metrop- 
olis, and at Bristol, Oxford, and the interjacent places. 
They alarmed the careless by bringing before them the 
solemnities of the last judgment; they explained the spirit- 
uality of that law, upon which the self-righteous trusted 
for salvation, and convinced them that the justification of 



84 



THE LIFE OF 



man was by the grace of God alone through faith; and 
they roused the dozing adherents of mere forms, by teach- 
ing that true religion implies a change of the whole heart 
wrought by the Holy Ghost. With equal zeal and earn- 
estness, they checked the pruriency of the Calvinistic 
system, as held by many Dissenters, by insisting that the 
law which can not justify, was still the rule of life, and 
the standard of holiness to all true believers; and taught 
that mere doctrinal views of evangelical truth, however 
correct, were quite as vain and unprofitable as Pharisaism 
and formality when made a substitute for vital faith, spirit- 
uality, and practical holiness. All this zeal was supported 
and made more noticeable, by the moral elevation of their 
character. Their conduct was scrupulously hallowed; 
their spirit, gentle, tender, and sympathizing; their courage, 
bold and undaunted; their patience, proof against all re- 
proach, hardships, persecutions; their charities to the poor 
abounded to the full extent of all their resources; their 
labors were wholly gratuitous; and their wonderful activity, 
and endurance of the fatigues, of rapid traveling, seemed 
to destroy the distance of place, and to give them a sort 
of ubiquity in the vast circuit which they had then adopted 
as the field of their labors. For all these reasons, they 
"were men to be wondered at," even in this the infancy 
of their career; and as their ardor was increased by the 
effects which followed, the conversion of great numbers 
to God, of which the most satisfactory evidence was af- 
forded, it disappointed those who anticipated that their 
zeal would soon cool, and that, "shorn of their strength" 
by opposition, reproach, and exhausting labors, they would 
become "like other men." 

An infidel or semi- Christian philosophy has its theories 
at hand to account for the appearance and conduct of such 
extraordinary men. If their own supposed "artifices," 
and the "temptation to place themselves at the head of a 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



85 



sect," will not solve the case, it then resorts "to the cir- 
cumstances of the age," or to "that restless activity and 
ambition" which finds in them "a promising sphere of 
action, and is attracted onward by its first successes." 
Even many serious Churchmen of later times, who con- 
tend that the great men of the Reformation were raised up 
by divine Providence in mercy to the world, are kept by 
sectarian prejudices from acknowledging a similar provi- 
dential leading in the case of the Wesleys, Whitefield, and 
Howell Harris, because the whole of the good effected has 
not rested within their own pale, and all the sheep collected 
out of the wilderness have not been gathered into their 
own fold. The sober Christian will, however, resort to 
the first principles of his own religion in order to form his 
judgment. He will acknowledge that the Lord of the 
harvest has the prerogative of "sending forth his labor- 
ers;" that men who change the religious aspect of whole 
nations can not be the offspring of chance, or the creation 
of circumstances; that, whatever there maybe of personal 
fitness in them for the work, as in the eminent natural and 
acquired talents of St. Paul, and whatever there may be 
in circumstances to favor their usefulness, these things do 
not shut out the special agency of God, but make it the 
more manifest; since the first more strikingly marks his 
agency in preparing his own servants, and training his 
soldiers; and the second, his wisdom in choosing the times 
of their appearance, and the scenes of their labors, and 
thus setting before them " an open door, and effectual," 
Nor can it be allowed, if we abide by the doctrine of the 
Scriptures, that a real spiritual good could have been so 
extensively and uniformly effected, and "multitudes turned 
to the Lord," unless God had been with the instruments, 
seconding their labors, and "giving his own testimony to 
the word of his grace." The hand of God is equally con- 
spicuous in connecting the leading events of their earlier 

8 



86 



THE LIFE OF 



history with their future usefulness. They were men 
" separated to the Gospel of God;" and every devout and 
grateful Christian will not cease to recognize in their ap- 
pearance, labors, and successes, the mercy of God to a 
land where " truth had fallen in the streets," and the 
people Avere sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of 
death. 



CHAPTER VI. 

We left Mr. Wesley at Bristol, in the summer of 1739, 
to which scene of labor, after a visit to London, he again 
returned. Kingswood was mentioned in the account given 
by Mr. Wesley, in the preceding chapter, of his labors; 
and in this district, inhabited by colliers, and, from its 
rudeness, a terror to the neighborhood, the preaching of 
the two brothers and of Mr. Whiteneld was eminently suc- 
cessful. The colliers were even proverbial for wickedness; 
but many of them became truly exemplary for their piety. 
These had been exhorted, it seems, to go to Bristol to re- 
ceive the sacrament; but their numbers were so consid- 
erable that the Bristol clergy,* averse to the additional 
labor imposed upon them, repelled them from the commu- 
nion, on the plea that they did not belong to their parishes. 

The effect of the leaven which had been thus placed in 
this mass of barbarism was made conspicuous in the fol- 
lowing year, in the case of a riot, of which Mr. Charles 
Wesley gives the following account. Being informed that 

* Several of the Bristol clergy were at that time of a persecuting char- 
acter. They induced a Captain Williams, the master of a vessel trading 
to Georgia, to make an affidavit of some statements to the disadvantage 
of Mr. Wesley in the affair of Mrs. Williamson; but they took care that 
he should set sail before they published it. This led to the publication 
of Mr. Wesley's first journal, as he states in the preface. In that journal 
he gave his own account of the matter, and they were silenced. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



87 



the colliers had risen, on account of the clearness of corn, 
and were marching for Bristol, he rode out to meet them, 
and talk with them. Many seemed disposed to return with 
him to the school which had been built for their ^children; 
but the most desperate rushed violently upon them, beating 
them, and driving them away from their pacific adviser. 
He adds, "I rode up to a ruffian, who was striking one of 
our colliers, and prayed him rather to strike me. He 
answered, ''No, not for all the world,' and was quite over- 
come. I turned upon another, who struck my horse, and 
he also sunk into a lamb. Wherever I turned, Satan's 
cause lost ground, so that they were obliged to make one 
general assault, and the violent colliers forced the quiet 
ones into the town. I seized one of the tallest, and earn- 
estly besought him to follow me. Yes, he said, that he 
would, all the world over. I pressed about six into the 
service. We met several parties, and stopped and exhorted 
them to follow us; and gleaning some from every com- 
pany, we increased as we marched on singing to the school. 
From one till three o'clock we spent in prayer, that evil 
might be prevented, and the lion chained. Then news 
was brought us that the colliers had returned in peace. 
They had walked quietly into the city, without sticks or the 
least violence. A few of the better sort of them went to 
the mayor, and told their grievance; then they all returned 
as they came, without noise or disturbance. All who saw 
it were amazed. Nothing could more clearly have shown 
the change wrought among them than this conduct on such 
an occasion. . . I found afterward that all our colliers 
to a man had been forced away. Having learned of 
Christ not to resist evil, they went a mile with those who 
compelled them, rather than free themselves by violence. 
One man the rioters dragged out of his sick bed, and threw 
him into the fish pond. Rear twenty of Mr. WilHs' men 
they had prevailed on, by threatening to fill up their pits, 



88 



THE LIFE OF 



and bury them alive, if they did not come up and bear 
them company. . . It was a happy circumstance that they 
forced so many of the Methodist colliers to go with them; 
as these, by their advice and example, restrained the 
savage fury of the others. This undoubtedly was the true 
cause why they all returned home without making any 
disturbance.' ' 

To a gentleman who requested some account of what 
had been done in Kingswood, Mr. John Wesley wrote the 
following statement: 

"Few persons have lived long in the west of England 
who have not heard of the colliers of Kingswood, a people 
famous, from the beginning hitherto, for neither fearing 
God nor regarding man; so ignorant of the things of God, 
that they seemed but one remove from beasts that perish, 
and therefore utterly without the desire of instruction, as 
well as without the means of it. 

"Many last winter used tauntingly to say of Mr. White- 
field, * If he will convert heathens, why does he not go to 
the colliers of Kingswood?' In the spring he did so. And 
as there were thousands who resorted to no place of public 
worship, he went after them into their own i wilderness, to 
seek and save that which was lost/ When he was called 
away, others went into 'the highways and hedges, to com- 
pel them to come in.' And, by the grace of God, their 
labor was not in vain. The scene is already changed. 
Kingswood does not now, as a year ago, resound with 
cursing and blasphemy. It is no more tilled with drunk- 
enness and uncleanness* and the idle diversions that natu- 
rally lead thereto. It is no longer full of wars and fight- 
ings, of clamor and bitterness, of wrath and envyings. 
Peace and love are there. Great numbers of the people 
are mild, gentle, and easy to be entreated. They ' do not 
cry, neither strive;' and hardly is ' their voice heard in the 
streets/ or indeed in their own wood, unless when they 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



are at their usual evening diversion, singing praise to God 
their Savior." 

At this time Mr. Wesley visited Bath, where the cele- 
brated Beau Nash, then Lord of the ascendant in that city, 
attempted to confront the field preacher. 

" There was great expectation at Bath of what a noted 
man was to do to me there: and I was much entreated 
'not to preach, because no one knew what might happen.' 
By this report I also gained a much larger audience, among 
whom were many of the rich and great. I told them 
plainly, the Scripture had concluded them all under sin, 
high and low, rich and poor, one with another. Many of 
them seemed to be not a little surprised, and were sinking 
apace into seriousness, when their champion appeared, and, 
coming close to me, asked by what authority I did these 
things. I replied, By the authority of Jesus Christ, con- 
veyed to me by the [now] archbishop of Canterbury, when 
he laid his hands upon me, and said, ' Take thou authority 
to preach the Gospel.' He said, 'This is contrary to act 
of Parliament. This is a conventicle.' I answered, 'Sir, 
the conventicles mentioned in that act — as the preamble 
shows — are seditious meetings. But this is not such. Here 
is no shadow of sedition. Therefore, it is not contrary to 
that act.' He replied, 'I say it is. And, beside, your 
preaching frightens people out of their wits.' 'Sir, did 
you ever hear me preach?' 'Xo.' 'How then can you 
judge of what you never heard?' ' Sir, by common report. 
Common report is enough.' ' Give me leave, sir, to ask, 
Is not your name Nash?' 'My name is Nash.' 'Sir, I 
dare not judge of you by common report. I think it is 
not enough to judge by.' Here he paused awhile, and 
having recovered himself, asked, 'I desire to know what 
this people come here for?' On which one replied, 'Sir, 
leave him to me. Let an old woman answer him.' ' You, 
Mr. Nash, take care of your body. We take care of our 

8* 



90 



THE LIFE OF 



souls, and for the good of our souls we come here/ He 
replied not a word, but walked away. 

"As I returned, the street was full of people, hurrying 
to and fro, and speaking great words. But when any of 
them asked, 'Which is he?' and I replied, 'I am he/ they 
were immediately silent. Several ladies following me into 
Mr. Merchant's house, the servant told me there were 
some wanted to speak with me. I went to them, and said, 
'I believe, ladies, the maid mistook; you only wanted to 
look at me/ I added, ' I do not expect that the rich and 
great should want either to speak with me, or to hear me, 
for I speak the plain truth; a thing you hear little of, and 
do not desire to hear/ A few more words passed between 
us, and I retired." (Journal.) 

After visiting London, and preaching to vast multitudes 
in Moorfields, on Kennington Common, and other places, 
some of whom were strangely affected, and many effectu- 
ally awakened to a sense of sin, in October Mr. Wesley 
had a pressing invitation to visit Wales, where, although 
the churches were shut against him, he preached in private 
houses, and in the open air, often during sharp frosts, and 
was gladly received by the people. "I have seen," says 
he, "no part of England so pleasant, for sixty or seventy 
miles together, as those parts of Wales I have been in, 
and most of the inhabitants are indeed ripe for the Gospel. 
I mean, if the expression seems strange, they are earnestly 
desirous of being instructed in it, and as utterly ignorant 
of it they are as any Creek or Cherokee Indians. I do not 
mean they are ignorant of the name of Christ; many of 
them can say both the Lord's Prayer and the Belief; nay, 
and some, all the Catechism; but take them out of the 
road of what they have learned by rote, and they know 
no more — -nine in ten of those with whom I conversed — 
either of Gospel salvation, or of that faith whereby alone 
we are saved, than Chicali, or Tomo Chachi, Now, what 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



91 



spirit is he of who had rather these poor creatures should 
perish for lack of knowledge than that they should be 
saved, even by the exhortations of Howell Harris or an 
itinerant preacher? The word did not fall to the ground. 
Many repented, and believed the Gospel. And some joined 
together to strengthen each other's hands in God, and to 
provoke one another to love and to good works." (Jour- 
nal.) 

About this time he stated his doctrinal views in perhaps 
as clear a manner, though in a summary form, as at any 
jDeriod subsequently: 

"A serious clergyman desired to know in what points 
we differed from the Church of England. I answered, 
To the best of my knowledge, in none; the doctrines we 
preach are the doctrines of the Church of England, in- 
deed the fundamental doctrines of the Church clearly laid 
down, both in her Prayers, Articles, and Homilies. 

"He asked, 'In what points then do you differ from the 
other clergy of the Church of England?' I answered, In 
none from that part of the clergy who adhere to the doc- 
trines of the Church; but from that part of the clergy who 
dissent from the Church — though they own it not — I differ 
in the points following: 

"First. They speak of justification, either as the same 
thing with sanctification, or as something consequent upon 
it. I believe justification to be wholly distinct from sanc- 
tification, and necessarily antecedent to it. 

"Second. They speak of our own holiness or good 
works as the cause of our justification, or that for the sake 
of which, on account of which, we are justified before 
God. I believe, neither our own holiness nor good works 
are any part of the cause of our justification; but that the 
death and righteousness of Christ are the whole and sole 
cause of it, or that for the sake of which, on account of 
which, we are justified before God. 



92 



THE LIFE OF 



" Third. They speak of good works as a condition of 
justification, necessarily previous to it. I believe, no good 
work can be previous to justification, nor, consequently, a 
condition of it; but that we are justified — being till that 
hour ungodly, and therefore incapable of doing any good 
work — by faith alone; faith, without works; faith, though 
producing all, yet including no good works. 

" Fourth. They speak of sanctification, or holiness, as 
if it were an outward thing; as if it consisted chiefly, if 
not wholly, in these two points: 1. The doing no harm; 2. 
The doing good, as it is called — that is, the using the 
means of grace, and helping our neighbor. 

"I believe it to be an inward thing, namely, 'the life of 
God in the soul of man; a participation of the divine 
nature; the mind that was in Christ;' or, 'the renewal of 
our heart after the image of Him that created us.' 

" Lastly. They speak of the new birth as an outward 
thing; as if it were no more than baptism, or, at most, a 
change from outward wickedness to outward goodness, 
from a vicious to what is called a virtuous life. I believe 
it to be an inward thing; a change from inward wickedness 
to inward goodness; an entire change of our inmost nature 
from the image of the devil, wherein we are born, to the 
image of God; a change from the love of the creature to 
the love of the Creator, from earthly and sensual to heav- 
enly and holy affections; in a word, a change from the 
tempers of the spirits of darkness to those of the angels of 
God in heaven. 

' ' There is, therefore, a wide, essential, fundamental, ir- 
reconcilable difference between us; so that if they speak 
the truth as it is in Jesus, I am found a false witness before 
God. But if I teach the way of God in truth, they are 
blind leaders of the blind." (Journal.) 

Disputes having arisen between the Methodists and Mo- 
ravians, who still formed one society at Fetter-lane, Mi. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



93 



Wesley returned to London. Over this society lie pro- 
fessed to have no authority, and, as it appeared, had but 
little influence. Various new doctrines of a mystical kind, 
which he thought dangerous, had been introduced by 
several of the teachers; and it seems he foresaw a separa- 
tion from them to be inevitable, for he had taken a place 
near Moorfields, which had been used as a foundery for 
casting cannon; and on this visit he preached in it to very 
numerous congregations. He was on this and other visits 
to London unsuccessful in settling the disputes which had 
arisen in the society; and in June, 1740, he again came to 
London, and spent upward of a month among them, occu- 
pied at intervals in the same attempt. His efforts being 
fruitless, he read to them the following paper: 

" About nine months ago, certain of you began to speak 
contrary to the doctrine we had till then received. The sum 
of what you asserted is this: 1. That there is no such 
thing as weak faith: that there is no justifying faith, where 
there is ever any doubt or fear; or where there is not, in 
the full sense, a new, a clean heart. 2. That a man ought 
not to use those ordinances of God, which our Church 
terms means of grace, before he has such a faith as ex- 
cludes all doubt and fear, and implies a new, a clean heart. 
3. You have often affirmed, that to search the Scriptures, 
to pray, or to communicate, before we have this faith, is to 
seek salvation by works; and till these works are laid aside, 
no man can receive faith. 

"I believe these assertions to be flatly contrary to the 
word of God. I have warned you hereof again and again, 
and besought you to turn back to the law and to the testi- 
mony. I have borne with you long, hoping you would 
turn. But as I find you more and more confirmed in the 
error of your ways, nothing now remains but that I should 
give you up to God. You that are of the same judgment 
follow me. . . I then," adds Mr. Wesley, "without saying 



94 



THE LIFE OF 



any thing more, withdrew, as did eighteen or nineteen of 
the society. " 

Those who continued to adhere to him then met at the 
foundery, the whole number amounting to about seventy- 
two. The Moravian teacher Molther appears to have been 
the chief author of the novel opinions objected to by Mr. 
Wesley, whom, however, Peter Bohler thought Mr. Wes- 
ley misunderstood; which was not likely, as Mr. Charles 
Wesley mentions the same thing in his journal. Toward 
the Moravian Church at large, Mr. Wesley continued to 
feel an unabated affection; but as he was never a member 
of that Church, and maintained only a kind of co-fraternity 
with those of them who were in London, when these be- 
came infected with novel opinions, his departure from them, 
with such as were of the same mind as himself, and 
were also members of the Church of England, was a step 
of prudence and of peace. From a conversation which he 
had with Count Zinzendorf a short time afterward, and 
which he has published, it would seem that a refined spe- 
cies of Antinomianism had crept in among the Moravi- 
ans; and that the Count was at that time by no means a 
teacher of the class of Peter Bohler. But, to affirm with 
Zinzendorf, that there is nothing but imputed righteous- 
ness, and to reject inherent righteousness — to insist upon 
all our perfection being in Christ, and to deny the Chris- 
tian perfection or maturity which believers derive from 
him — was not in accordance with the Moravian Church, 
appears from the following extract from the authorized 
exposition of their doctrines by Spangenberg, which, as 
the perversions of these "wrong-headed men" have been 
mentioned, it would be unjust to the body of Moravians, to 
withhold: 

"Although this faith, which is so peculiar to all the 
children of God, that whoever has it not is no child of 
God, does no outward wonders and signs, raises none from 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



95 



the dead, removes no mountains, yet it does and performs 
other things, which are of much greater importance. 
What are those things? Answer: We through faith attain 
to the enjoyment of that which Christ hath by his sacrifice 
purchased for us. We are, (1.) Through faith in Jesus 
Christ, made free from the dominion of sin. Paul says, 
'Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not 
under the law, but under grace/ Rom. vi, 14. 

" All those who believe in Jesus Christ are freed from 
the curse and condemnation of the law; they obtain for- 
giveness of sins, become the adopted children of God, and 
are sealed with the Holy Ghost. These are they, then, 
who are made free from the dominion of sin, because they 
are under grace. Now, when they are thus exhorted, 'Let 
not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it 
in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as in- 
struments of unrighteousness unto sin/ etc., Rom. vi, 12, 
13, they can not say, 0 that is impossible for us; we are 
but sinful men; the flesh is weak, and the like; for they 
have Jesus Christ, who saveth his people from their sins, 
they have a Father in heaven, who heareth their prayer 
and supplication. The Holy Ghost dwells in their hearts, 
and strengthens them in all that is good. If they, there- 
fore, do but rightly make use of the grace wherein through 
faith they stand, then sin can have no dominion over them. 
This is exactly what John says, 1st Epist. hi, 9, 'Whoso- 
ever is born of God, doth not commit sin' — he doth not 
let sin reign, or have the dominion in his mortal body, that 
he should obey it in the lusts thereof — ' for his seed re- 
maineth in him; and he can not sin, because he is born of 
God.' That is, his heart will comply with no such thing; 
for he loves our Savior, being a child of God, and a par- 
taker of the Holy Ghost.' ' (Exposition, pp. 215, 216.) 

Not only Antinomian errors, but mystic notions of 
ceasing from ordinances and waiting for faith in stillness, 



96 



THE LIFE OF 



greatly prevailed also among the Moravians in London at 
this time, and were afterward carried by them into many 
of the country Methodist societies in Yorkshire, Derby- 
shire, and other places. Of the effect at Nottingham, Mr. 
Wesley gives a curious account in his journal for June, 
1743: 

"In the afternoon we went on to Nottingham, where 
Mr. Howe received us gladly. At eight the society met, 
as usual. I could not but observe, 1. That the room was 
not half full, which used, till very lately, to be crowded 
within and without. 2. That not one person who came 
in used any prayer at all; but every one immediately sat 
down, and began either talking to his neighbor or looking 
about to see who was there. 3. That when I began to 
pray, there appeared a general surprise, no one suffering 
to kneel down, and those who stood, choosing the most 
easy, indolent posture which they conveniently could. I 
afterward looked for one of our hymn-books upon the 
desk — for I knew Mr. Howe had brought one from Lon- 
don — but both that and the Bible were vanished away. 
And in the room lay the Moravian Hymns and the Co ant's 
Sermons. " (Journal.) 

That incautious book, Luther on the Galatians, appears 
to have been the source of the Antinomianism of the Mo- 
ravians; and their quietism they learned from Madame 
Guion, and other French mystic writers. 

The Methodist society, as that name distinguishes the 
people who to this day acknowledge Mr. Wesley as their 
founder under God, was, properly speaking, as a society 
specially under his pastoral charge, collected in this year, 
(1740,) at the chapel in Moorfields, where he regularly 
preached, and where, by the blessing of God upon his and 
Mr. Charles Wesley's labors, the society rapidly increased. 
For this, and for the societies in Bristol, Kingswood, and 
other parts, he, in 1743, drew up a set of rules, which 



REV. JOHN "WESLEY. 



97 



continue in force to the present time, and the observance 
of which was then, and continues to be, the condition of 
membership. They are so well known as to render it 
unnecessary to quote them. It may only be observed, 
that they enjoin no peculiar opinions, and relate entirely 
to moral conduct, to charitable offices, and to the» observ- 
ance of the ordinances of God. Churchmen or Dissenters, 
walking by these rules, might become and remain mem- 
bers of these societies, provided they held their doctrinal 
views and disciplinary prepossessions in peace and charity. 
The sole object of the union was to assist the members to 
"make their calling and election sure," bv cultivating the 
religion of the heart, and a holy conformity to the laws 
of Christ. These rules bear the signature of John and 
Charles Wesley. 

Mr. Wesley's mother about this time began to attend 
his ministry. She had been somewhat prejudiced against 
her sons by reports of their "errors" and "extravagan- 
ces;" but was convinced, upon hearing them, that they 
spoke "according to the oracles of God." There is an 
interesting entry in Mr. Wesley's Journal respecting this 
venerable woman: 

"September 3. I talked largely with my mother, who 
told me, that, till a short time since, she had scarce heard 
such a thing mentioned as the having forgiveness of sins 
now, or God's Spirit bearing witness with our spirit: much 
less did she imagine, that this was the common privilege 
of all true believers. ' Therefore,' said she, ' I never durst 
ask for it myself. But two or three weeks ago, while my 
son Hall was pronouncing those words, in delivering the 
cup to me, The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was 
given for thee, the words struck through my heart, and I 
knew God for Christ's sake had forgiven me all my sins.' 

"I asked whether her father — Dr. Annesley — had not 
the same faith; and whether she had not heard him 

9 



98 



THE LIFE OF 



preach it to others. She answered, 'He had it himself, 
and declared a little before his death, that, for more than 
forty years, he had no darkness, no fear, no doubt at all 
of his being accepted in the Beloved? But that, neverthe- 
less, she did not remember to have heard him preach, no, 
not once, explicitly upon it: whence she supposed he also 
looked upon it as the peculiar blessing of a few, not as 
promised to all the people of God." (Journal.) 

The extraordinary manner in which some persons were 
frequently affected under Mr. Wesley's preaching, as well 
as that of his coadjutors, now created much discussion, 
and to many gave great offense. Some were seized with 
trembling; others sunk down and uttered loud and piercing 
cries; others fell into a kind of agony. In some instances 
while prayer was offered for them, they rose up with a 
sudden change of feeling, testifying that they had "re- 
demption through the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness 
of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Mr. Samuel 
Wesley, who denied the knowledge of the forgiveness of 
sins, treated these things, in a correspondence with his 
brother, alternately with sarcasm and serious severity, and 
particularly attacked the doctrine of assurance. In this 
controversy, Mr. John Wesley attaches no weight what- 
ever to these outward agitations; but contends that he is 
bound to believe the profession made by many, who had 
been so affected, of an inward change, because that had 
been confirmed by their subsequent conduct and spirit. 
On the subject of assurance the disputants put forth their 
logical acuteness; but the result appears to have been 
upon the whole instructive to the elder brother, whose 
letters soften considerably toward the close of the dispute. 
Mr. Samuel Wesley died in the following November. The 
circumstances to which he objected, although he knew 
them only by report, and was too far removed from the 
scene to be an accurate judge, have since that time fur- 



REV. JOHX "WESLEY. 



99 



nished ample subject for serious or satirical animadversion 
to many writers, and to none more than to Dr. Southey. 
(Life of Wesley.) A few general remarks upon this 
point may not, therefore, be here out of place. By this 
"writer it is affirmed, that great importance was attached 
by Mr. Wesley to those emotions, and bodily affections, 
which occasionally occurred; and that the most visionary 
persons, and those whose pretended ecstasies, dreams, 
etc., were, at least in the early part of his ministry, the ob- 
jects of his special respect, as eminently holy and favored. 
This is so far from the fact, that it is difficult to meet 
with a divine whose views of religion are more practical 
and definite. He did not deny that occasionally "God," 
*even now, "speaketh in a dream, in a vision of the night," 
and that he may thus "open the ears of men to instruc- 
tion, and command them to depart from h&pa^yf' he 
believed that, in point of fact, many indisputable cases 
of this kind have occurred in modern times; and in this 
belief he agreed with many of the wisest and the best of 
men. He has recorded some cases of what may be called 
ecstasy, generally without an opinion of his own, leaving 
every one to form his own judgment from the recorded 
fact. He unquestionably believed in special effusions of 
the influence of the Holy Spirit upon congregations and 
individuals, producing powerful emotions of mind, ex- 
pressed in some instances by bodily affections; and he 
has furnished some facts on which Dr. Southey has exer- 
cised his philosophy with a success, probably, more satis- 
factory to himself than convincing to his readers. But 
that any thing extraordinary, either of bodily or mental 
affection, was with Mr. Wesley, at any time of his life, of 
itself, deemed so important as to be regarded as a mark 
of superior piety, is a most unfounded assumption. Those 
of his sermons which contain the doctrines which he 
deemed essential, his Notes on the New Testament, and 



100 



THE LIFE OF 



the rules by which every member of his societies was 
required to be governed, are sufficiently in refutation of 
this notion. In them no reference is made to any thing 
visionary as a part, however small, of true religion; unless, 
indeed , all spiritual religion, changing the heart, and sanc- 
tifying the affections, be thought visionary. The rule of 
admission into his societies was "a desire to fly from the 
wrath to come;" but then the sincerity of this was to be 
evidenced by corresponding ''fruits" in the conduct; and 
on this condition only, farther explained by detailed regu- 
lations, all of them simple and practical, were the mem- 
bers to remain in connection with him. These rules are 
the standing evidence, that, from the first formation of the 
Methodist societies, neither a speculative nor a visionary' 
scheme of religion was the basis of their union. Had 
Mr. Wesley placed religion, in the least, in those circum- 
stances, he would have set up a very different standard 
of doctrine in his sermons; and the rules of his societies 
would have borne an equivocal and mystic character. 

That cases of real enthusiasm occurred at this and sub- 
sequent periods is indeed allowed. There are always 
nervous, dreamy, and excitable people to be found; and 
the emotion which was produced among those who were 
really so " pricked in the heart" as to cry with a sincerity 
equal to that which was felt by those of old, "What shall 
we do to be saved?" would often be communicated to 
such persons by natural sympathy. No one could be 
blamed for this; unless he had encouraged the excitement 
for its own sake, or taught the people to regard it as a 
sign of grace, which most assuredly Mr. Wesley never 
did. Nor is it correct to represent these effects, genuine 
and factitious together, as peculiar to Methodism. A 
great impression was made by the preaching of the Wes- 
leys and Mr. Whitefield in almost all places where they 
went. Thousands in the course of a few years, and of 



REV. JOIIX WESLEY. 



101 



those, too, who had lived in the greatest unconcern as to 
spiritual things, and were most ignorant and depraved in 
their habits, were recovered from their vices, and the moral 
appearance of whole neighborhoods was changed. Yet 
the effects were not without precedent even in those cir- 
cumstances in which they have been thought most singular 
and exceptionable. Great and rapid results of this kind 
were produced in the first ages of Christianity, but not 
without " outcries," and strong corporeal as well as mental 
emotions, nay, and extravagances, too. By perversion, 
even condemnable heresies arose, and a rank and real 
enthusiasm: but will anv man from this argue against 
Christianity itself, or asperse the labors and characters of 
those holy men who planted its genuine root in Asia, 
Africa, and Europe? "Will he say, that as, through the 
coiTupt nature of men, evil often accompanies good, one 
is to be confounded with the other, and that those great 
evangelists were the authors of the evil because they were 
the instruments of the benefit? Even in the decline of 
true piety in the Church of Christ, there were not want- 
ing: holv and zealous ministers to carrv the tidings of sal- 
vation to the barbarous ancestors of European nations; 
and strong and effectual impressions were made by their 
faithful and powerful preaching upon the savage multi- 
tudes who surrounded them, accompanied with many 
effects similar to those which attended the preaching of 
the Wesleys and vVhitefield; but all who went on these 
sacred missions were not enthusiasts; nor were all the 
conversions effected by them a mere exchange of super- 
stitions. Such objectors might have known that like 
effects often accompanied the preaching of eminent men 
at the Reformation, and that many of the Puritan and 
Xon- Conformist ministers had similar successes in large 
districts in our own country. They might have known 
that, in Scotland, and also among- the grave Presbyterians 

9* 



{02 THE LIFE OF 

of New England, previous to the rise of Methodism, such 
impressions had not ^infrequently been produced by the 
ministry of faithful men, attended by very similar circum- 
stances; and they might have been informed that, though 
on a smaller scale, the same results have followed the 
ministry of modern missionaries of different religious so- 
cieties in various parts of the world. It may be laid 
down as a principle established by fact, that, whenever 
a zealous and faithful ministry is raised up, after a long 
spiritual death, the early effects of that ministry are not 
only powerful, but often attended with extraordinary cir- 
cumstances; nor are such extraordinary circumstances 
necessarily extravagances because they are not common. 
If there be an explicit truth in Scripture, it is, that the 
success of the ministry of the Gospel, and the conversion 
of men, is the consequence of Divine influence; and if 
there be a well-ascertained fact in ecclesiastical story, it 
is, that no great and indisputable results of this kind have 
been produced but by men who have acknowledged this 
truth, and have gone forth in humble dependence upon 
that promised co-operation contained in the words, "And, 
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." 
This fact, equally striking and notorious, is a strong con- 
firmation that the sense of the sacred oracles on this 
point was not mistaken by them. The testimony of the 
word of God is, that, as to ministerial success, "God 
giveth the increase;'' the testimony of experience is, that 
no success in producing true conversion has ever taken 
place in any Church, but when this co-operation of God 
has been acknowledged and sought by the agents em- 
ployed in it. 

The doctrine of Divine influence, as necessary to the 
conversion of men, being thus grounded on the evidence, 
of Scripture, and farther confirmed by fact, it may follow, 
and that in perfect conformity with revelation, that such 



REV. JOHN WESLEi\ 



103 



influence may be dispensed in different degrees at different 
periods. That it was more eminently exerted at the first 
establishment of Christianity than at some other periods, 
is certain; and that not only in extraordinary gifts — for 
though these might awaken attention and silence unbelief, 
we have the evidence of Scripture history to prove, that 
miracles can not of themselves convert men from vice — 
but in sanctifying energy, without which the heart is never 
brought to yield to the authority and will of God in its 
choice and affections. That in various subsequent periods 
there have been special dispensations of favor to nations, 
with reference to the improvement of their moral state, is 
clear from a fact which can not be denied, that eminently- 
holy and gifted men have been raised up at such periods 
for the benefit of the countries and the age in which they 
appeared, from whose exertions they have derived the 
highest moral advantages. For the reasons we have 
given, we can not refer the appearance of such men to 
chance, nor the formation of their characters to the cir- 
cumstances and spirit of " stirring times. " We leave 
these conclusions to the philosophy of the world; and 
recognize in the appearance of such instruments, the mer- 
ciful designs and special grace of Him "who worketh all 
and in all." But the argument is, that if such men have 
really been the instruments of "turning many to right- 
eousness," and that if the principles of our religion forbid 
us to believe that this can be done by any gifts or qualities 
in them, however lofty, then, according to the Scripture 
doctrine, they were "workers together with God," and 
the age in which they labored was distinguished by a 
larger effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of men. 
Why this should occur at one time more eminently than 
at another, we pretend not to say; but even this notion, 
so enthusiastic probably to many, is still in conformity to 
the word of God, which declares that "the wind bloweth 



104 



THE LIFE OF 



where it listeth," and that the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
like the atmosphere, is subject to laws not ascertainable by 
man; and if this effusion of his influence argue especial, 
though undeserved, favor to particular nations and ages, 
this is not more difficult to account for than that, at some 
periods and places, men of eminent usefulness should be 
sent into the world, when they do not appear in others, 
which being a mere matter of fact, leaves no room for 
cavil. This view likewise accords with what the Scrip- 
tures teach us to expect as to the future. For the accom- 
plishment of the sublime consummation of the Divine 
counsels, agents of great efficiency and qualifications, we 
believe, will from time to time appear; but our hope does 
not rest on them, But on Him only who has explicitly 
promised to "pour out his Spirit upon all flesh/ ' at once 
to give efficiency to instruments in themselves feeble, 
however gifted, and so "to order the unruly wills and 
passions of men, that they may be subdued and sanctified 
by the truth. If such effusions of Divine influence be 
looked for, and on such principles, as the means of 
spreading the power of Christianity generally, we may 
surely believe it quite accordant both with the spirit and 
letter of Scripture, that the same influence should often 
be exerted to preserve and to revive religion; and that if 
nations already Christian are to be the instruments of 
extending Christianity, not in name only, but in its spirit 
and sanctity into all the earth, they should be prepared 
for this high designation by the special exercise of the 
same agency turning them from what is merely formal 
in religion to its realities, and making them examples to 
others of the purifying grace of the Gospel of God our 
Savior. Let it then be supposed — no great presumption, 
indeed — that Christians have quite as good a foundation 
for these opinions as others can boast for that paltry phi- 
losophy by which they would explain the effects produced 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



105 



by the preaching of holy and zealous ministers in different 
ages; and we may conclude that such effects, as far as 
they are genuine, are the result of Divine influence; and, 
when numerous and rapid, of a Divine influence specially 
and eminently exerted, giving more than ordinary assist- 
ance to the minds of men in their religious concerns, and 
rendering the obstinate more inexcusable by louder and 
more explicit calls. Of the extraordinary circumstances 
which has usually accompanied such visitations, it may be 
said, that if some should be resolved into purely -natural 
causes, some into real enthusiasm, and — under favor of 
our philosophers — others into Satanic imitation, a sufficient 
number will remain, which can only be explained by con- 
sidering them as results of a strong impression made upon 
the consciences and affections of men by an influence 
ascertained to be Divine, though usually exerted through 
human instrumentality, by its unquestionable effects upon 
the heart and life. ISTor is it either irrational or unscrip- 
tural to suppose, that times of great national darkness and 
depravity, the case certainly of this country at the outset 
of Mr. "Wesley and his colleagues in their glorious career, 
should require a strong remedy; and that the attention of 
a sleeping people should be roused by circumstances which 
could not fail to be noticed by the most unthinking. We 
do not attach primary importance to secondary circum- 
stances; but they are not to be wholly disregarded. The 
Lord was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in 
the fire, but in the " still, small voice;" yet that "still, 
small voice" might not have been heard, except by minds 
roused from their inattention by the shaking of the earth, 
and the sounding of the storm. 

If, however, no special and peculiar effusion of Divine 
influence on the minds of many of Mr. Wesley's hearers 
be supposed; if we only assume the exertion of that ordi- 
nary influence which, as we have seen, must accompany 



THE LIFE OF 



the labors of every minister of Christ to render them 
successful in saving men, the strong emotions often pro- 
duced by the preaching of the founder of Methodism 
might be accounted for on principles very different from 
those adopted by many objectors. The multitudes to 
whom he preached were generally grossly ignorant of the 
Gospel; and he poured upon their minds a flood of light; 
his discourses were plain, pointed, earnest, and affectionate; 
the feeling produced was deep, piercing, and, in numberless 
cases, such as we have no right, if we believe the Bible, 
to attribute to any other cause than that inward operation 
of God with his truth which alone can render human means 
effectual. Many of those on whom such impressions were 
made retired in silence, and nurtured them by reflection. 
The " stricken deer" hastened into solitude, there to bleed, 
unobserved by all but God. This was the case with the 
majority; for visible and strong emotions were the occa- 
sional, and not the constant, results. At some seasons, 
indeed, effects were produced which, on Christian princi- 
ples, we may hesitate not to say, can only be accounted for 
on the assumption that the influence was both Divine and 
special; at others, the impression was great; but yet we 
need assume nothing more than the ordinary blessing of 
God which accompanies "the word of his grace," when 
delivered in the fullness of faith and love, in order to ac- 
count for it. But, beside those who were silently pierced, 
and whose minds were sufficiently strong to command 
their emotions, there were often many of a class not ac- 
customed to put such restraints upon themselves. To a 
powerful feeling they offered but a slight resistance, and 
it became visible. To many people then, as now, this 
would appear extravagant; but on what principle can the 
genuineness of the impression be questioned? Only if no 
subsequent fruit appeared. For if a true conversion fol- 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



107 



lowed, then, if there be truth in religion itself, the "finger 
of God" must be acknowledged. 

We have hitherto seen Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield 
laboring; together in harmonv, and uniting in a common 
design to promote the revival of Scriptural Christianity 
through the land. But Mr. Wesley about this time being 
impressed with the strong tendency of the Calvinistic doc- 
trines to produce Antinomianism, published a sermon 
against absolute predestination, at which Mr. Whitefield, 
who some time previously had embraced that notion, took 
offense. A controversy between them, embracing some 
other points, ensued, which issued in a temporary estrange- 
ment; and they labored from this time independently of 
each other, their societies in London, Kingswood, and 
other places, being kept quite separate. 

A reconciliation, however, took place between Mr. Wes- 
ley and Mr. Whitefield in January, 1750, so that they 
preached in each other's chapels. The following entry on 
this subject appears in his journal: "Friday 19th. In 
the evening I read prayers at the chapel in West-street, 
and Mr. Whitefield preached a plain, affectionate discourse. 
Sunday 21. He read prayers, and I preached. Sunday 
28. I read prayers, and Mr. Whitefield preached. How 
wise is God, in giving different talents to different preach- 
ers! So, by the blessing of God, one more stumbling- 
block is removed." (Journal.) 

The following extract from Mr. Whitefield' s will, is a 
pleasing instance of generous, truly- Christian feeling: "1 
leave a mourning ring to my honored and dear friends, 
and disinterested fellow-laborers, the Rev. Messrs. John 
and Charles Wesley, in token of my indissoluble union 
with them in heart and Christian affection, notwithstanding 
our difference in judgment about some particular points 
of doctrine." (Journal.) 



108 



THE LIFE OF 



Mr. Wesley, at Mr. Whitefield's own desire, preached 
his funeral sermon at the Tabernacle, Moorfields. 

Several preachers were now employed by Mr. "Wesley 
to assist in the growing work, which already had swelled 
beyond even his and his brother's active powers suitably 
to supply with the ministration of the word of God. Mr. 
Charles Wesley had discouraged this from the beginning, 
and even he himself hesitated; but with John, the promo- 
tion of religion was the first concern, and Church order 
the second, although inferior in consideration to that only. 
With Charles, these views were often reversed. Mr. Wes- 
ley, in the year 1741, had to caution his brother against 
joining* the Moravians, after the example of Mr. Gambold, 
to which he was at that time inclined; and adds, "I am 
not clear, that brother Maxfield should not expound at 
Greyhound-lane; nor can I as yet do without him. Our 
clergymen have increased full as much as the preachers." 
Mr. Maxfield's preaching had the strong sanction of the 
countess of Huntingdon; but so little of design, with 
reference to the forming of a sect, had Mr. Wesley, in the 
employment of Mr. Maxfield, that, in his own absence 
from London, he had only authorized him to pray with the 
society, and to advise them as might be needful; and 
upon his beginning to preach, he hastened back to silence 
him. On this his mother addressed him, "John, you 
know what my sentiments have been. You can not sus- 
pect me of favoring readily any thing of this kind. But 
take care what you do with respect to that young man, 
for he is as surely called of God to preach as you are. 
Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and 
hear him also yourself." He took this advice, and could 
not venture to forbid him. 

His defense of himself on this point we may pronounce 
irrefutable, and turns upon the disappointment of his 
hopes, that the parochial clergy would take the charge of 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



109 



those "who in different places had been turned to God by 
his ministry, and that of his fellow-laborers. 

"It pleased God," says Mr. Wesley, "by two or three 
ministers of the Church of England, to call many sinners 
to repentance, who, in several parts, were undeniably 
turned from a course of sin to a course of holiness. 

"The ministers of the places where this was done ought 
to have received those ministers with open arms; and to 
have taken those persons who had just begun to serve 
God into their particular care, watching over them in 
tender love, lest they should fall back into the snare of 
the devil. 

"Instead of this, the greater part spoke of those minis- 
ters, as if the devil, not God, had sent them. Some re- 
pelled them from the Lord's table; others stirred up the 
people against them, representing them, even in their pub- 
he discourses, as fellows not fit to live — Papists, heretics, 
traitors— conspirators against their king and country. 

"And how did they watch over the sinners lately re- 
formed? Even as a leopard watcheth over his prey. They 
drove some of them from the Lord's table, to which, till 
now, they had no desire to approach. They preached all 
manner of evil concerning them, openly cursing them in 
the name of the Lord. They turned many out of their 
work, persuaded others to do so too, and harassed them 
in all manner of ways. 

"The event was, that some were wearied out, and so 
turned back to the v^omit again; and then these good pas- 
tors gloried over them, and endeavored to shake others by 
their example. 

"When the ministers by whom God had helped them 
before, came again to those places, great part of their 
work was to begin again, if it could be begun again; but 
the relapsers were often so hardened in sin, that no im- 
pression could be made upon them. 

10 



110 



THE LIFE OF 



"What could they do in a case of so extreme necessity, 
where so many souls lay at stake? 

" No clergyman would assist at all. The expedient 
that remained was, to find some one among themselves 
who was upright of heart, and of sound judgment in the 
things of God; and to desire him to meet the rest as often 
as he could, in order to confirm them, as he was able, in 
the ways of God, either hj reading to them, or by prayer, 
or by exhortation." 

This statement may indeed be considered as affording 
the key to all that which, with respect to Church order, 
may be called irregularity in Mr. Wesley's future proceed- 
ings. God had given him large fruits of his ministry in 
various places; when he was absent from them, the people 
were "as sheep having no shepherd/' or were rather per- 
secuted by their natural pastors, the clergy; he was re- 
duced, therefore, to the necessity of leaving them without 
religious care, or of providing it for them. He wisely 
chose the latter; but, true to his own principles, and even 
prejudices, he carried this no farther than the necessity of 
the case: the hours of service were in no instance to inter- 
fere with those of the Establishment, and at the parish 
church the members were exhorted to communicate. Thus 
a religious society was raised up within the national 
Church, and with this anomaly, that as to all its interior 
arrangements, as a society, it was independent of its eccle- 
siastical authority. The irregularity was, in princijole, as 
great when the first step was taken as at any future time. 
It was a form of practical and partial separation, though 
not of theoretical dissent; but it arose out of a moral 
necessity, and existed for some years in such a state, that, 
had the clergy been disposed to co-operate in this evident 
revival and spread of true religion, and had the heads of 
the Church been willing to sanction itinerant labors among 
its ministers, and private religious meetings among the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



Ill 



serious part of the people for mutual edification, the great 
body of Methodists might hare been retained in commu- 
nion with the Church of England. 

On this matter, which was often brought before the lead- 
ing and influential clergy, they made their own election. 
They refused to co-operate; they doubtless thought that 
they acted right; and, excepting the obloquy and persecu- 
tion with which they followed an innocent and pious people, 
they perhaps did so; for a great innovation would have 
been made upon the discipline of the Church, for which, 
at that time at least, it was little prepared. But the clergy, 
having made their election, have no right, as some of them 
continue to do, to censure either the founders of Method- 
ism or their people for making more ample provision for 
their spiritual wants. It was imperative upon the former 
to provide that pastoral care for the souls brought to God 
by their labors, which the Church could not or would not 
afford; and the people had a Christian liberty to follow 
that course which they seriously believed most conducive 
to their own edification, as well as a liberty by the very 
laws of their country. The violent clerical writers against 
Methodism have usually forgotten, that no man in England 
is bound to the national Church bv anv thing but moral 
influence; and that from every other tie he is set free by 
the laws which recognize and protect religious liberty. 
Mr. Wesley resisted all attempts at formal separation, 
still hoping that a more friendly spirit would spring up 
among the clergy; and he even pressed hard upon the con- 
sciences of his people to effect their uniform and constant 
attendance at their parish churches, and at the sacrament; 
but he could not long and generally succeed. Where the 
clergyman of a parish was moral or pious there was no 
difficulty; but cases of conscience were continually arising 
among his societies, as to the lawfulness of attending the 
ministry of the irreligious and profane clergymen, who 



112 



THE LIFE OF 



were then and long afterward found throughout the land, 
and as to hearing, and training up children to hear, false 
and misleading doctrines, Pelagian, Antinomian, or such 
as were directed in some form against the religion of the 
heart as taught in the Scriptures, and in the services of the 
national Church. These cases exceedingly perplexed Mr. 
Wesley; and though he relaxed his strictness in some in- 
stances, yet, as he did no': sufficiently yield to meet the 
whole case, and perhaps could not do it without adopting 
such an ecclesiastical organization of his societies as would 
have contradicted the principles to which, as to their rela- 
tion to the Church, he had, perhaps, overhastily and 
peremptorily committed himself, the effect was, that long 
before his death, the attendance of the Methodists at such 
parish churches as had not pious ministers was exceedingly 
scanty; and as they were not permitted public worship 
among themselves in the hours of Church service, a great 
part of the Sabbath was lost to them, except as they em- 
ployed it in family and private exercises. So also as to 
the Lord's supper; as it was not then administered by their 
own preachers, it fell into great and painful neglect. To 
meet the case in part, the two brothers, and a few clergy- 
men who joined them, had public service in Church hours, 
in the chapels in London and some other places, and ad- 
ministered the Lord's supper to numerous communicants; 
a measure, which, like other inconsistencies of a similar 
kind, grew out of a sense of duty, warring with, and re- 
strained by, strong prepossessions, and the very sincere 
but very unfounded hope just mentioned, that a more 
friendly spirit would be awakened among the clergy, and 
that all the sheep gathered out of the wilderness would at 
length be kindly welcomed into the national fold. As 
ecclesiastical irregularities, these measures stood, however, 
precisely on the same principle as those subsequent changes 
which have rendered the body of Methodists still more 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



113 



distinct and separate; a subject to -which reference will again 
be made. The warmest advocates of Church Methodism 
among ourselves were never consistent Churchmen; and 
the Church writers, who have set up the example of Mr. 
Wesley against his more modern followers, have been 
wholly ignorant or unmindful of his history. Dr. Southey 
and others who have fancied a plan of separation in Mr. 
Wesley's mind from the beginning, though followed cau- 
tiously and with policy "step by step," have shown a 
better acquaintance with the facts of the progress of 
Methodism, though they have been most unjust to the pure 
and undesigning mind of its founder, who walked "step 
by step/' it is true, but only as Providence by an arrange- 
ment of circumstances seemed to lead the way, and would 
make no change but as a necessity, arising from conscien- 
tious views of the prosperity of a spiritual work, appeared 
to dictate. Had he looked forward to the forming of a 
distinct sect, as an honor , he would have attempted to enjoy 
it in its fullness during his life; and had he been so skillful 
a designer as some have represented him, he would not 
have left a large body unprovided for, in many respects 
essential to its prosperity and permanence, at his death. 
He left his work unfinished, and knew that he should leave 
it in that state; but he threw the final results, in the spirit 
of a strong faith, upon the care of Him whose hands he 
had seen in it from the beginning. 



CHAPTER VII. 

We have now to follow these apostolic men into still 
more extended fields of labor, and to contests more for- 
midable. They had sustained many attacks from the 
press, and some frowns from the authorities of the Church. 

10* 



114 



THE LIFE OF 



By mobs they had occasionally been insulted both in Eng- 
land and Wales. But in London, some riotous proceed- 
ings, of a somewhat violent character, now occurred at 
their places of worship. With respect to these, the follow- 
ing anecdote is curious, as it shows that Mr. Wesley's zeal 
was regarded with favor in a high quarter: "On the last 
day of 1742, Sir John Ganson called upon Mr. Wesley, 
and said, 'Sir, you have no need to suffer these riotous 
mobs to molest you, as they have done long. I and all 
the other Middlesex magistrates have orders from above to 
do you justice whenever you apply to us.' Two or three 
weeks after they did apply. Justice was done, though not 
with rigor, and from that time the Methodists had peace in 
London." (Whitehead's Life.) 

In the discipline of Methodism, the division of the so- 
ciety into classes is an important branch. Each class is 
placed under a person of experience and piety, who meets 
the others once a week, for prayer, and inquiry into the 
religious state of each, in order to administer exhortation 
and counsel. The origin of these classes was, however, 
purely accidental. The chapel at Bristol was in debt; and 
it was agreed that each member of the society should con- 
tribute one penny a week to reduce the burden. The Bris- 
tol society was therefore divided into classes; and for con- 
venience, one person was appointed to collect the weekly 
subscriptions from each class, and to pay the amount to the 
stewards. The advantage of this system, when turned to 
a higher purpose, at once struck the methodical and practical 
mind of Mr. Wesley: he therefore invited several "earnest 
and sensible men" to meet him; and the society in London 
was divided into classes like that of Bristol, and placed 
under the spiritual care of these tried and experienced per- 
sons. At first they visited each person, at his own resi- 
dence, once a week; but the preferable mode of bringing 
each class together weekly was at length adopted. These 



REV. JOHN "WESLEY. 



115 



meetings are not, as some have supposed, inquisitorial; but 
their business is confined to statements of religious expe- 
rience, and the administration of friendly and pious coun- 
sel. Mutual acquaintance with each other is thus formed; 
the leader is the friend and adviser of all; and among the 
members, by their praying so often with and for each other, 
the true "fellowship of saints" is promoted. Opportuni- 
ties are also thus afforded for ascertaining the wants of the 
poorer members, and obtaining relief for them; and for visit- 
ing the sick: the duty of a leader being to see his members 
once in the week, either at the meeting, or, if absent from 
that, at home. Upon this institution Mr. Wesley remarks, 
"Upon reflection, I could not but observe, this is the very 
thing which was from the beginning of Christianity. In 
the earliest times, those whom God had sent forth 'preached 
the Gospel to every creature.' The body of hearers were 
mostly either Jews or heathens. But as soon as any of 
these were so convinced of the truth as to forsake sin, and 
seek the Gospel of salvation, they immediately joined them 
together, took an account of their names, advised them 
to watch over each other and met these xar^Buerot, catechu- 
mens, as they were then called, apart from the great con- 
gregation, that they might instruct, rebuke, exhort, and 
pray with them, and for them, according to their several 
necessities." (Journal.) 

A current charge against Mr. "Weslev, about this time, 
was, that he was a Papist; and from the frequent references 
to it in his journal, although it was treated by him with 
characteristic sprightliness, it appears to have been the 
occasion of much popular odium, arising from the fears 
entertained by the nation of the movements of the Pre- 
tender. In his journal, March, 1741, he says, "Calling 
on a person near Grosvenor Square, I found there was but 
too much reason here for crying out of the increase of 
Popery, many converts to it being continually made by the 



1 16 



THE LIFE OF 



gentleman who preaches in Swallow-street three days in 
every week. Now, why do not the champions, who are 
continually crying out, 'Popery, Popery,' in Moorfields, 
come hither, that they may not always be fighting f as one 
that beateth the air?' Plainly, because they have no mind 
to fight at all, but to show their valor without an opponent. 
And they well know they may defy Popery at the foundery 
without any danger of contradiction." And some time 
afterward, he remained in London, from whence all Pa- 
pists had been ordered by proclamation to depart, a week 
longer than he intended, that he might not seem to plead 
guilty to the charge. The notion that the Methodists were 
Papists was also, in those times, the occasion of their being 
persecuted in several places in the country. 

Mr. Wesley now extended his labors northward. He 
first accepted an invitation into Leicestershire, and has the 
following amusing anecdote in his journal: "I stopped a 
little at Newport Pagnell, and then rode on till I overtook 
a serious man, with. whom I immediately fell into conver- 
sation. He presently gave me to know what his opinions 
were; therefore, I said nothing to contradict them. But 
that did not content him; he was quite uneasy to know 
whether I held the doctrine of decrees as he did. But I 
told him, over and over, we had better keep to practical 
things, lest we should be angry at one another; and so we 
did for two miles, till he caught me unawares, and dragged 
me into the dispute before I knew where I was. He then 
grew warmer and warmer; told me I was rotten at heart, 
and supposed I was one of John Wesley's followers. I 
told him, 'No! I am John Wesley himself!' Upon which 
he appeared, 

Improvisum aspris veluti qui sentibus anguem 
Pressit 

'as one who had unawares trodden on a snake/ and would 
gladly have run away outright. But being the better 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



117 



mounted of the two, I kept close to his side, and endeav- 
ored to show him his heart till we came into the street of 
Northampton." In this journey he visited Yorkshire. 
At Birstal and the neighborhood many persons had been 
awakened to a serious concern by the conversation and 
preaching of honest John Nelson, who had himself been 
brought to the knowledge of God in London, by attending 
the service at the foundery, and had returned to his 
friends in Yorkshire, chiefly moved bv a strong desire to 
promote their salvation. The natural genius of this excel- 
lent man, who afterward suffered much persecution, and 
was barbarously treated by the magistrates and clergy, 
was admirably acute, and gave to his repartees a surprising 
power and convincingness. He greatly excelled in conver- 
sation on religious subjects; and his journal is one of the 
most interesting pieces of biography published among the 
Methodists. When Mr. Wesley reached Birstal he found 
that he had been the instrument of very extensive good, 
so that the moral aspect of the town had been changed. 
After preaching to a large congregation on Birstal Hill, 
and on the side of Dewsbury Moor, and encouraging Mr. 
Nelson in his endeavors to do good, Mr. Wesley proceeded 
to Newcastle upon Tyne, hoping to have the same fruit of 
his labors among the colliers of that district as he had seen 
anions those of Khwswood. So true was this lover of 
the souls of men to his own advice to his preachers, "Go 
not only to those who need you, but to those who need 
you most." 

On walking through the town, after he had taken some 
refreshment, he observes, "I was surprised; so much 
drunkenness, cursing, and swearing, even from the mouths 
of little children, do I never remember to have seen and 
heard before in so short a time." Sunday, May 30th, at 
seven in the morning, he walked down to Sandgate, the 
poorest and most contemptible part of the town, and 



118 



THE LIFE OF 



standing at the end of the street with John Taylor, began 
to sing the hundredth psalm. " Three or four people," 
says he, "came out to see what was the matter, who soon 
increased to four or five hundred. I suppose there might 
be twelve or fifteen hundred before I had done preaching, 
to whom I applied these solemn words, 'He was wounded 
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; 
the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his 
stripes we are healed.' " 

In returning southward, he preached in various parts of 
Yorkshire; and visiting Ep worth, where a small society of 
Methodists had been collected, and finding the use of the 
church denied him, he stood upon his father's tomb, and 
preached to a numerous congregation, who, as well as 
himself, appear to have been deeply impressed with the 
circumstance of the son speaking to them, as from the 
ashes of his father, on those solemn subjects on which that 
venerable parish priest had faithfully addressed them for 
so many years. This was Sunday, June 6, 1742, and on 
the Wednesday following, he humorously relates, "I rode 
over to a neighboring town, to wait upon a justice of 
peace, a man of candor and understanding; before whom, 
I was informed, their angry neighbors had carried a whole 
wagon load of these new heretics. But when he asked 
what they had done, there was a deep silence; for that 
was a point their conductors had forgot. At length one 
said, 'Why, they pretend to be better than other people; 

and, beside, they pray from morning to night/ Mr. S 

asked, 'But have they done nothing beside?' 'Yes, sir/ 
said an old man, 'an't please your worship, they have 
convarted my wife. Till she went among them, she had 
such a tongue; and now she is as quiet as a lamb.' ' Carry 
them back, carry them back,' replied the justice, 'and let 
them convert all the scolds in the town.' " (Journal.) 

On the Sunday following he also preached at Epworth, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



119 



and remarks, "At six I preached for the last time in Ep- 
worth church-yard — being to leave the town the next 
morning — to a vast multitude gathered together from all 
parts, on the beginning of our Lord's Sermon on the 
Mount. I continued among them for near three hours; 
and yet we scarce knew how to pan. 0 let none think 
his labor of love is lost, because the fruit does not imme- 
diately appear. Xear forty years did my father labor here; 
but he saw little fruit of all his labor. I took some pains 
among this people, too, and my strength also seemed to be 
spent in vain. But now the fruit appeared. There were 
scarce any in the town, on whom either my father or I had 
taken any pains formerly, but the seed sown so long since 
now sprung up, bringing forth repentance and remission 
of sins." (Journal.) 

The following remarks, on a sermon he heard at Pains- 
wick, occur in his journal about this time, and deserve 
notice: "I went to church at ten, and heard a remarkable 
discourse, asserting 'that we are justified by faith alone; 
but that this faith, which is the previous condition of jus- 
tification, is the complex of all Christian virtues, including 
all holiness and good works in the very idea of it.' 

"x\las! how little is the difference between asserting, 
either, 1. That we are justified by works, which is Popery 
barefaced — and indeed so gross that the sober Papists, 
those of the Council of Trent in particular, are ashamed 
of it — or, 2. That we are justified by faith and works, 
which is Popery refined or vailed — but with so thin a vail 
that every attentive observer must discern it is the same 
still — or, 3. That we are justified by faith alone, but by 
such a faith as includes all good works.* What a poor shift 
is this, 'I will not say we are justified by works, nor yet 
by faith and works, because I have subscribed articles and 

* Although the faith which justifies does not include good works, it will, 
when it has justified us, produce and be followed by good works, because 
it brings us into vital union with Christ. 



120 THE LIFE OF 

homilies which maintain just the contrary. No; I say we 
are justified by faith alone. But, then, by faith I mean 
works!' " 

After visiting Bristol, he was recalled to London, to at- 
tend the last moments of his mother: "Friday, July 30th, 
about three in the afternoon, I went to my mother, and 
found her change was near. I sat down on the bedside. 
She was in her last conflict, unable to speak, but, I believe, 
quite sensible. Her look was calm and serene, and her 
eyes fixed upward, while we commended her soul to God. 
From three to four, the silver cord was loosening, and the 
wheel breaking at the cistern; and then, without any 
struggle, or sigh, or groan, the soul was set at liberty. 
We stood round the bed, and fulfilled her last request, 
uttered a little before she lost her speech, ' Children, as 
soon as I am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.' " 
(Journal.) 

So decided a witness was this venerable and intellectual 
woman of the assurance of faith, a doctrine which she had 
learned from her sons more clearly to understand. To 
their sound views, on this Scriptural and important subject, 
the latter years of her life, and her death, gave a testimony 
which to them must have been, in the highest degree, 
delightful and encouraging. The following beautiful epi > 
taph, written by her son Charles, was inscribed on her 
tombstone in Bunhill Fields: 

u In sure and steadfast hope to rise, 
And claim her mansion in the skies; 
A Christian here her flesh laid down, 
The cross exchanging for a crown. 
True daughter of affliction, she, 
Inured to pain and misery, 
Mourn'd a long life of griefs and fears, 
A legal night of seventy years. 
The Father then reveal'd his Son, 
Him in the broken bread made known: 
She knew and felt her sins forgiven, 
And found the earnest of her heaven. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



121 



Meet for the fellowship above, 
She heard the call, * Arise, my love!' 
' I come,' her dying looks replied, 
And lamb-like, as her Lord, she died." 

The labors of Mr. Charles Wesley had been very ex- 
tended and arduous during the early part of the year 
1 743, and, by the Divine blessing, eminently successful. 
From the west of England he proceeded to the colliers of 
Staffordshire, who had before been visited, and found that 
the society at Wednesbury had increased to more than 
three hundred, of whose religious state he speaks, in his 
journal, with strong feelings of joy. At Walsall, he 
preached on the market-house steps: 

"The street was full of fierce Ephesian beasts — the 
principal men setting them on — who roared and shouted, 
and threw stones incessantly. At the conclusion a stream 
of ruffians was suffered to beat me down from the steps: I 
rose, and having given the blessing, was beat down again: 
and so a third time. When we had returned thanks to the 
God of our salvation, I then from the steps bid them de- 
part in peace, and walked through the thickest of the 
rioters. They reviled us, but had no commission to touch 
a hair of our head." 

He then proceeded to Birmingham, Nottingham, and 
then to Sheffield. Here the infant society was as a "flock 
among wolves; the minister having so stirred up the 
people, that they were ready to tear the Methodists in 
pieces. At six o'clock I went to the society house, next 
door to our brother Bennet's. Hell from beneath was 
moved to oppose us. As soon as I was in the desk, with 
David Taylor, the floods began to lift up their voice. An 
officer in the army contradicted and blasphemed. I took 
no notice of him, but sung on. The stones flew thick, 
striking the desk and the people. To save them, and the 
House from being pulled down, I gave out that I should 
nreach in the street, and look them in the face, The 

11 



122 



THE LIFE OF 



whole army of the aliens followed me. The captain laid 
hold on me, and began rioting: I gave him for answer, 
'A Word in Season, or Advice to a Soldier.' I then 
prayed, particularly for his majesty King George, and 
'preached the Gospel with much contention.' The stones 
often struck me in the face. I prayed for sinners, as 
servants of their master, the devil; upon which the captain 
ran at me with great fury, threatening revenge for abusing, 
as he called it, 'the king, his master.' He forced his way 
through the brethren, drew his sword, and presented it to 
my breast. I immediately opened my breast, and fixing my 
eye on his, and smiling in his face, calmly said, 'I fear God, 
and honor the king.' His countenance fell in a moment, 
he fetched a deep sigh, and putting up his sword, quietly 
left the place. He had said to one of the company, who 
afterward informed me, ■ You shall see if I do but hold my 
sword to his breast, he will faint away.' So, perhaps, I 
should had I only his principles to trust to; but if at that 
time I was not afraid, no thanks to mv natural courao\3. 
We returned to our brother Bennet's, and gave ourselves 
up to prayer. The rioters followed, and exceeded in out- 
rage all I have seen before. Those at Moorflelds, Cardiff, 
and Walsall, were lambs to these. As there is no 'king 
in Israel,' I mean no magistrate in Sheffield, every man 
doeth as seemeth good in his own eyes." The mob now 
formed the design of pulling down the society house, and 
set upon their work, while Mr. Charles Wesley and the 
people were praying and praising God within. "It was a 
glorious time," says he, "with us; every word of exhorta- 
tion sunk deep, every prayer was sealed, and many found 
the Spirit of glory resting upon them." The next day the 
house was completely pulled down, not one stone being 
left upon another. He then preached again in the street, 
somewhat more quietly than before; but the rioters became 
very noisy in the evening, and threatened to pull down the 



REV. J OH* WESLEY. 



123 



house where he lodged. He went out to them and made 
a suitable exhortation, and they soon after separated, and 
peace was restored. 

At five the next morning, he took leave of the society 
in these words, " Confirming the souls of the disciples, and 
exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must 
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." 
lie observes, "Our hearts were knit together, and greatly 
comforted: we rejoiced in hope of the glorious appearing 
of the great God, who had now delivered us out of the 
mouth of the lions. David Taylor had informed me, that 
the people of Thorpe, through which we should pass, were 
exceedingly mad against us. So we found them as we 
approached the place, and were turning down the lane to 
Barley Hall. The ambush rose, and assaulted us with 
stones, eggs, and dirt. My horse flew from side to side, 
till he found his way through them. They wounded Da- 
vid Taylor in the forehead, and the wound bled much. I 
turned back, and asked, what was the reason that a clergy- 
man could not pass without such treatment. At first the 
rioters scattered, but their captain rallying them, answered 
with horrible imprecations and stones. My horse took 
fright, and turned away with me down a steep hill. The 
enemy pursued me from afar, and followed shouting. 
Blessed be God, I received no hurt, only from the eggs 
and dirt. 'My clothes, indeed, abhorred me,' and my arm 
pained me a little from a blow I received at Sheffield." 
(Journal.) 

Such was the calm heroism with which these admirable 
men prosecuted their early labors, shrinking from no 
danger ? and firmly trusting their fives in the hands of God. 
Proceeding to Leeds, Mr. Charles Wesley preached "to 
thousands," before Mr. Shent's door, and found the people 
"prepared for the Lord." The clergy of Leeds treated 
him with respect and deference, and obliged him to assist 



124 



THE LIFE OF 



at the sacrament; such, indeed, was their kindness, that 
he began to fear the gleam of sunshine "more than the 
stones at Sheffield. " He then went on to Newcastle, 
where he not only abounded in public labors, but, as the 
society had rapidly increased, he instituted a strict inves- 
tigation into their spiritual state, accurately distinguishing 
between animal emotions and the true work of God in the 
heart, and leading all to try themselves by the only infal 
lible rule — their conformity to the word of God. So un- 
just are the insinuations, that the founders of Methodism 
allowed excited affections to pass as admitted proofs of a 
change of heart. On this visit to Newcastle, Mr. Charles 
Wesley remarks in his journal, that, since he had preached 
the Gospel, he had never had greater success than at this 
time at Newcastle. Soon after, his brother laid the foun- 
dation of a place for the public worship of the society, 
the size of which greatly startled some of the people, as 
they doubted whether money could be raised to finish it. 
"I was of another mind/' he observes, "nothing doubting, 
but as it was begun for the Lord's sake, he would provide 
what was needful for finishing it." Many pecuniary dif- 
ficulties arose in the completion of this work; but he 
received timely supplies of money, sometimes from very 
unexpected quarters. During this year new societies 
were formed in the western, midland, and northern coun- 
ties, while those before collected continued greatly to 
increase. 

In the latter end of this year, ( 1 743, ) Mr. Wesley ap- 
pointed in London visitors of the sick, as a distinct office 
in his society. He says, "It was not long before the 
stewards found a great difficulty with regard to the sick. 
Some were ready to perish before they knew of their 
illness. And when they did know, it was not in their 
power — being persons generally employed in trade — to 
visit them so often as they desired. When I was apprised 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



126 



of this, I laid the ease at large before the whole society; 
showed how impossible it was for the stewards to attend 
all that were sick in all parts of the town; desired the 
leaders of the classes would more carefully inquire, and 
more constantly inform them, who were sick; and asked, 
Who among you is willing, as well as able, to supply this 
lack of service? 

"The next morning many willingly offered themselves. 
I chose six and forty of them, whom I judged to be of 
the most tender, loving spirit, divided the town into 
twenty-three parts, and desired two of them to visit the 
sick in each division. 

"It is the business of a visitor of the sick, 
"1. To see every sick person within his district thrice 
a week. 2. To inquire into the state of their souls, and 
advise them as occasion may require. 3. To inquire into 
their disorders, and procure advice for them. 4. To re- 
lieve them if thev are in want. 5. To do anv thing for 
them, which he (or she) can do. 6. To bring in his 
account weekly to the steward.'* "Upon reflection, I 
saw how exactly in this also we had copied after the 
primitive Church. What were the ancient deacons? 
What was Phebe the deaconess, but such a visitor of 
the sick? 

"I did not think it needful to give them any particular 
rules besides those that follow: 

"1. Be plain and open in dealing with souls. 2. Be 
mild, tender, patient. 3. Be cleanly in all you do for the 
sick. 4. Be not nice." 

The same year was remarkable in the life of Mr. Wes- 
ley, for his escape from one of the most dangerous of his 
encounters with deluded and infuriated mobs. It was 
first incited by a sermon preached in Wednesbury church, 
by the clergyman. "I never," says Mr. Wesley, "heard 
so wicked a sermon, and delivered with such bitterness of 

11* 



126 



THE LIFE OF 



voice and manner." While Mr. Wesley was at Bristol, 
lie heard of the effect produced by this charitable address 
of the minister to his parishioners, who was assisted in 
stirring up the persecution against the society, as was very 
frequent in those days, by the neighboring magistrates — 
full of what they called Churchmanship and loyalty. At 
Wednesbury, D arias ton, and West Bromwich, the mobs 
were stimulated to abuse the Methodists in the most out- 
rageous manner; even women and children were beaten, 
stoned, and covered with mud; their houses broken open, 
and their goods spoiled and carried away."* Mr. Wesley 
hastened to comfort and advise this harassed people as 
soon as the intelligence reached him, and preached a f 
noon at Wednesbury without molestation; but in the after* 
noon the mob surrounded the house. The result will bes 1 
be given from his own account, which displays at once hit 
own admirable presence of mind and the singular provi- 
dence of God: 

"I was writing at Francis Ward's in the afternoon 
vhen the cry arose that the mob had beset the house 
We prayed that God would disperse them: and so it was 
■ne went this way and another that, so that in half ar 
aour not a man was left. I told our brethren, Now is th* 
dme to go; but they pressed me exceeding 7 y to stay 
So, that I might not offend them, I sat down, though j 
foresaw what would follow. Before live the mob sur- 
rounded the house again, and in greater numbers than 
ever. The cry of one and all was, 1 Bring out the minis 
ter, we will have the minister/ I desired one to take the 
captain by the hand and bring him into the house. After 
a few sentences interchanged between us, the lion waa 
become a lamb. I desired him to go, and bring one :i 

* The descendants of some of these persecuted people still remain, 
and show, one a cupboard, another some other piece of furniture, the 
only article saved from the wreck, and preserved with pious care, as a 
monument of the sufferings of their ancestors. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



127 



two of the most angry of his companions. He brought in 
two, who were ready to swallow the ground with rage; 
but in two minutes they were as calm as he. I then bade 
them make way, that I might go out among the people. 
As soon as I was in the midst of them, I called for a chair, 
and asked, 'What do any of you want with me?' Some 
said, 'We want you to go with us to the justice. ' I re- 
plied, 'That I will with all my heart.' I then spoke a 
few words, which God applied; so that they cried out 
with might and main, * The gentleman is an honest gen- 
tleman, and w T e wall spill our blood in his defense.' I 
asked, ' Shall we go to the justice to-night, or in the 
morning?' Most of them cried, 'To-night, to-night!' on 
which I went before, and two or three hundred followed, 
the rest returning whence they came. 

"The night came on before we had walked a mile, 
together with heavy rain. However, on we went to Bent- 
ley Hall, two miles from Wednesbury. One or two ran 
before, to tell Mr. Lane they had brought Mr. Wesley 
before his worship. Mr. Lane replied, 'What have I to 
do with Mr. Wesley? Go and carry him back again.' 
By this time the main body came up, and began knocking 
at the door. A servant told them Mr. Lane was in bed. 
His son followed, and asked what was the matter. One 
replied, 'Why, an't please you, they sing psalms all day; 
nay, and make folks rise at five in the morning: and what 
would your worship advise us to do?' 'To go home,' 
said Mr. Lane, 'and be quiet.' 

"Here they were at a full stop, till one advised to go 
to Justice Persehouse, at Walsall. All agreed to this: so 
we hastened on, and about seven came to his house. But 
Mr. Persehouse also sent word that he was in bed. Now 
they were at a stand again; but at last they all thought 
it the wisest course to make the best of their way home. 
About fifty of them undertook to convey me; but we had 



128 



THE LIFE OF 



not gone a hundred yards, when the mob of Walsall came 
pouring in like a flood, and bore down all before them. 
The Darlaston mob made what defense they could; but 
they were weary, as well as outnumbered; so that, in a 
short time, many being knocked down, the rest went 
away, and left me in their hands. 

' 'To attempt speaking was vain; for the noise on every 
side was like the roaring of the sea. So they dragged me 
along till we came to the town, where seeing the door of 
a large house open, I attempted to go in; but a man 
catching me by the hair, pulled me back into the middle 
of the mob. They made no more stop till they had car- 
ried me through the main street, from one end of the 
town to the other. I continued speaking all the time to 
those within hearing, feeling no pain or weariness. At 
the west end of the town, seeing a door half open, I made 
toward it, and would have gone in; but a gentleman in 
the shop would not suffer me, saying they would pull the 
house to the ground. However, I stood at the door and 
asked, ' Are you willing to hear me speak?' Many cried 
out, 'No, no! knock his brains out; down with him; kill 
him at once.' Others said, 'Nay, but we will hear him 
first/ I began asking, 'What evil have I done? Which 
of you have I wronged in word or deed?' and continued 
speaking for above a quarter of an hour, till my voice 
suddenly failed. Then the floods began to lift up their 
voice again; many crying out, 'Bring him away! bring 
him away!' 

"In the mean time my strength and my voice returned, 
and I broke out aloud into prayer. And now the man, 
who just before headed the mob, turned and said, ' Sir, I 
will spend my life for you; follow me, and not one soul 
here shall touch a hair of your head/ Two or three of 
his fellows confirmed his words, and got close to me 
immediately. At the same time the gentleman in the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 129 

shop cried out, 'For shame, for shame; let him go/ An 
honest butcher, who was a little farther off, said it was a 
shame they should do thus; and pulled back four or five, 
one after another, who were running on the most fiercely. 
The people, then, as if it had been by common consent, 
fell back to the right and left; while those three or four 
men took me between them, and carried me through them 
all: but on the bridge the mob rallied again; we therefore 
went on one side, over the mill-dam, and thence through 
the meadows, till, a little before ten, God brought me safe 
to Wednesbury; having lost only one flap of my waistcoat, 
and a little skin from one of my hands. 

"From the beginning to the end I found the same 
presence of mind as if I had been sitting in my own 
study. But I took no thought for one moment before 
another; only once it came into my mind, that if they 
should throw me into the river, it would spoil the papers 
that were in my pocket. For myself, I did not doubt but 
I should swim across, having but a thin coat and a light 
pair of boots. 

"The circumstances that follow I thought were particu- 
larly remarkable: 1. That many endeavored to throw me 
down while we were going down hill, on a slippery path, 
to the town; as well judging, that if I was once on the 
ground I should hardly rise any more. But I made no 
stumble at all, nor the least slip, till I was entirely out of 
their hands. 2. That although many strove to lay hold 
on my collar or clothes to pull me down, they could not 
fasten at all; only one got fast hold of the flap of my 
waistcoat, which was soon left in his hand. 3. That a 
lusty man just behind struck at me several times with a 
large oaken stick, with which if he had struck me once on 
the back part of my head, it would have saved him all 
farther trouble; but every time the blow was turned 
aside, I know not how. 4. That another came rushing 



130 



THE LIFE OF 



through the press, and raising his arm to strike, on a 
sudden let it drop, and only stroked my head, saying, 
'What soft hair he has!' 5. That I stopped exactly at 
the mayor's door, as if I had known it, which the mob 
doubtless thought I did, and found him standing in the 
shop; which gave the . first check to the madness of the 
people. 6. That the very first men whose hearts were 
turned were the heroes of the town, the captains of the 
rabble on all occasions; one of them having been a prize- 
fighter at the bear gardens. 7. That from first to last I 
heard none give a reviling word, or call me by any oppro- 
brious name whatever. But the cry of one and all was, 
'The preacher! the preacher! the parson! the minister!' 
8. That no creature, at least within my hearing, laid any 
thing to my charge, either true or false; having in the 
hurry quite forgot to provide themselves with an accusa- 
tion of any kind. And, lastly, they were utterly at a loss 
what they should do with me; none proposing any de- 
terminate thing, only, 'Away with him; kill him at once.' 

"When I came back to Francis Ward's, I found many 
of our brethren waiting upon God. Many also whom I 
had never seen before, came to rejoice with us; and the 
next morning as I rode through the town, in my way to 
Nottingham, every one I met expressed such a cordial af- 
fection, that I could scarce believe what I saw and heard." 

At Nottingham he met with Mr. Charles Wesley, who 
has inserted in his journal a notice of the meeting, highly 
characteristic of the spirit of martyrdom in which both of 
them lived: 

"My brother came, delivered out of the mouth of the 
lions! His clothes were torn to tatters; he looked like a 
soldier of Christ. The mob of Wednesbury, Darlaston, 
and Walsall, were permitted to take and carry him about 
for several hours, with a full intent to murder him; but 
his work is rot yet finished, or he had been now with the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



131 



souls under the altar." Undaunted by the usage of John, 
Charles immediately set out for Wednesburv, to encourage 
the societies. 

In this year Mr. Wesley made his first journey into 
Cornwall, where his brother, led by the same sympathies 
to communicate the Gospel to the then rude and neglected 
miners of that extreme part of the kingdom, as had in- 
duced him to yisit the colliers of Kingswood, Staffordshire, 
and the north, had preceded him. Here he had preached 
in various places, sometimes amidst mobs, " as desperate as 
that at Sheffield." Mr. Wesley followed in August, and 
came to St. Ives, where he found a small religious society, 
which had been formed upon Dr. Woodward's plan. They 
gladly received him, and formed the nucleus of the Meth- 
odist societies in Cornwall, which from this time rapidly 
increased. In this visit he spent three weeks, preaching 
in the most populous parts of the mining district, with an 
effect which still continues to be felt. In no part of Eng- 
land has Methodism obtained more influence than in the 
west of Cornwall. It has become, in fact, the leading pro- 
fession of the people, and its moral effects upon society 
may be looked upon with the highest satisfaction and grati- 
tude. Xor were the Cornish people ungrateful to the in- 
strument of the benefit. When he was last in the country, 
in old age, the man who had formerly slept on the ground 
for want of a lodging, and picked blackberries to satisfy 
his hunger, and who had narrowly escaped with his life 
from a desperate mob at Falmouth, passed through the 
towns and villages as in a triumphal march, while the 
windows were crowded with people, anxious to get a sight 
of him, and to pronounce upon him their benedictions. 

Between this visit and that of the next year, a hot per- 
secution, both of the preachers and people, broke forth. 
The preaching house of St. Ives was pulled to the ground: 
one of the preachers was impressed and sent for a soldier, 



132 



THE LIFE OF 



as were several of the people: while being stoned, covered 
with dirt, and abused, was the treatment which many 
others of them met with from day to day. But, notwith- 
standing this, they who had been eminent for hurling, 
fighting, drinking, and all manner of wickedness, continued 
eminent for sobriety, piety, and meekness. The impress- 
ment of the preachers for soldiers by the magistrates was 
not, however, confined to Cornwall. About the same time 
John Nelson and Thomas Beard were thus seized, and sent 
for soldiers, for no other crime, either committed or pre- 
tended, than that of calling sinners to repentance. The 
passive heroism of John Nelson is well known. Thomas 
Beard, also, was "nothing terrified by his adversaries;' ' 
but his body after a while sunk under affliction. He was 
then lodged in the hospital of Newcastle, where he still 
praised God continually. His fever increasing, he was 
let blood: his arm festered, mortified, and was cut off; 
two or three days after which, God signed his discharge, 
and called him to his eternal home. 

The riots in Staffordshire, also, still continued. "The 
mob of Walsall, Dalaston, and Wednesbury, hired for the 
purpose by their superiors, broke open their poor neigh- 
bors' houses at their pleasure by day and by night; ex- 
torting money from the few that had it, taking away or 
destroying their victuals and goods, beating and wounding 
their bodies, insulting the women, and openly declaring 
they would destroy every Methodist in the country. Thus 
his Majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects were treated for 
eight months, and were then publicly branded in the 
Whitehall and London Evening Post, for rioters and incen- 
diaries!" (Whitehead's Life.) 

Several other instances of the brutal maltreatment of 
the preachers occurred in these early periods, which ended 
in disablement, or premature death. The persecution at 
St, Ives, Mr. Wesley observes, "was owing in great 



REVv JOHN WESLEY, 



132 



measure to the indefatigable labors of Mr. Hoblin, and 
Mr. Simmons, gentlemen worthy to be had in everlasting 
remembrance for their unwearied endeavors to destroy 
heresy. 

Fortunati ambo! Siquid mea jpagina possit, 
Nulla dies unquam memori vos eocimet mvo. 

" Happy both! Long as my writings, shall your fame 
remain.' ' 

In August, 1744, Mr. John Wesley preached for the last 
time before the university of Oxford. Mr. Charles Wesley 
was present, and observes in his journal: "My brother 
bore his testimony before a crowded audience, much in- 
creased by the races. Never have I seen a more attentive 
congregation; they did not suffer a word to escape them. 
Some of the heads of colleges stood up the whole time, 
and fixed their eyes upon him. If they can endure sound 
doctrine, like his, he will surely leave a blessing behind 
him. The vice-chancellor sent after him, and desired his 
notes, which he sealed up and sent immediately.' * 

His own remarks upon this occasion are, "I am now 
clear of the blood of those men. I have fully delivered 
my own soul. And I am well pleased that it should be 
the very day on which, in the last century, near two thou- 
sand burning and shining lights were put out at one stroke. 
Yet what a wide difference is there between their case and 
mine! They were turned out of house and home, and all 
that they had; whereas I am only hindered from preaching 
in one place, without any other loss, and that in a kind of 
honorable manner; it being determined, that, when my 
next turn to preach came, they would pay another person 
to preach for me. And so they did twice or thrice, even 
to the time I resigned my fellowship." (Journal.) 

Mr. Wesley had at this time a correspondence with 
Rev. James Erskine, from whom he learned that several 
pious ministers and others, in Scotland, duly appreciated 

:l 12 



134 



THE LIFE OF 



his character, and rejoiced in the success of his labors, 
notwithstanding the difference of their sentiments. Mr. 
Erskine's letter indeed contains a paragraph which breathes 
a liberality not very common in those days, and which 
may be useful in the present, after all our boastings of 
enlarged charity: " Are the points which give the different 
denominations — to Christians — and from whence proceed 
separate communities, animosities, evil speakings, sur- 
mises, and, at least, coolness of affection, aptness to mis- 
construe, slowness to think well of others, stiffness in one's 
own conceits, and overvaluing one's own opinion, etc.: 
are these points — at least among the far greatest part of 
Protestants — as important, as clearly revealed, and as 
essential, or as closely connected with the essentials of 
practical Christianity, as the loving of one another with a 
pure heart fervently, and not forsaking, much less refusing, 
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of 
some was, and now of almost all is?" (Journal.) 

In a subsequent letter this excellent man expresses an 
ardent wish for union among all those of different denomi- 
nations and opinions who love the Lord Jesus Christ; and 
on such a subject he was speaking to a kindred mind; for 
no man ever set a better example of Christian charity, and 
no where is the excellence and obligation of that temper 
more forcibly drawn and inculcated than in his most in- 
teresting sermon on "A Catholic Spirit." With such a 
testimony and example before them, his followers would be 
the most inexcusable class of Christians were they to 
indulge in that selfish sectarianism with which he was so 
often unjustly charged; and for which they, though not 
faultless in this respect, have also been censured more fre- 
quently and indiscriminately than they have merited. It 
would scarcely be doing justice to this part of Mr. Wes- 
ley's character not to insert an extract from the sermon 
alluded to: 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



135 



"Is thy heart right with God? If it be, give me thy 
hand. 1 do not mean, 'Be of my opinion.' You need 
not. I do not expect or desire it. Neither do I mean, 'I 
will be of your opinion.' I can not. It does not depend 
on my choice; I can no more think, than I can see or hear, as 
I will. Keep you your opinion: I mine; and that as steadily 
as ever. You need not endeavor to come over to me, or 
bring me over to you. I do not desire you to dispute those 
points, or to hear or speak one word concerning them. Let 
all opinions alone on one side and the other. Only 'give 
me thine hand.' 

"I do not mean, 'Embrace my modes of worship; or, 
I will embrace yours.' This, also, is a thing which does 
not depend either on your choice or mine. We must both 
act as each is fully persuaded in his own mind. Hold you 
fast that which you believe is most acceptable to God, and 
I will do the same. I believe the episcopal form of Church 
government to be Scriptural and apostolical. If you think 
the Presbyterian or Independent is better, think so still, 
and act accordingly. I believe infants ought to be bap- 
tized, and that this may be done either by dipping or 
sprinkling. If you are otherwise persuaded, be so still, 
and follow your own persuasion. It appears to me, that 
forms of prayer are of excellent use, particularly in the 
great congregation. If you judge extemporary prayer to 
be of more use, act suitable to your own judgment. My 
sentiment is, that I ought not to forbid water, wherein per- 
sons may be baptized; and, that I ought to eat bread and 
drink wine, as memorials of my dying Master. However, 
if you are not convinced of this, act according to the light 
you have. I have no desire to dispute with you one mo- 
ment upon any of the preceding heads. Let all these 
smaller points stand aside. Let them never come into 
sight. 'If thine heart be as mv heart,' if thou love God 
and all mankind, I ask no more: 'Give me thy hand.' 



lo6 



THIS LIFE OF 



"I mean, first, love me. And that not only as thou 
lovest all mankind, not only as thou lovest thine enemies, 
or the enemies of God, those that hate thee, that ' despite- 
fully use thee, and persecute thee:' not only as a stranger, 
as one of whom thou knowest neither good nor evil. I 
am not satisfied with this. 'No; 'if thine heart be right, 
as mine with thy heart,' then love me with a very tender 
affection, as a friend that is closer than a brother, as a 
brother in Christ, a fellow-citizen of the New Jerusalem, 
a fellow-soldier engaged m the same warfare, under the 
same Captain of our salvation. Love me as a companion 
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, and a joint-heir of 
his glory. 

" J_jOve me — but in a higher degree than thou dost the 
bulk of mankind — with the love that is ' long-suffering and 
kind;' that is patient, if . I am ignorant or out of the way, 
bearing and not increasing my burden; and is tender, soft, 
and compassionate still; that 'envieth not,' if at any time 
it please God to prosper me in this work even more than 
thee. Love me with. the love that 'is not provoked' either 
at my follies or infirmities, or even at my acting — if it 
should sometimes so appear to thee — not according to the 
will of God. Love me so as to 'think no evil' of me, to 
put away all jealousy and evil surmising. Love me with 
the love that 'covereth all things;' that never reveals 
either my faults or infirmities, that 'believeth all things,' is 
always willing to think the best, to put the fairest con- 
struction on all my words and actions; that 'hopeth all 
things;' either that the thing related was never done, or 
not done with such circumstances as are related: or at 
least, that it was done with a good intention, or in a sud- 
den stress of temptation. And hope to the end, that what- 
ever is amiss will, by the grace of God, be corrected, and 
whatever is wanting supplied, through the riches of his 
mercy in Christ Jesus." (Sermons.) 



KEY. JOHN "WESLEY. 



137 



And then, having shown how a catholic spirit differs 
from practical and speculative latitudinarianism and indif- 
ference, he concludes: " A man of a catholic spirit is one 
who, in the manner above mentioned, ' gives his hand ' to 
all whose 'hearts are right with his heart.' One who 
knows how to value and praise God for all the advantages 
he enjoys, with regard to the knowledge of the things of 
God, the true Scriptural manner of worshiping him; and, 
above all, his union with a congregation fearing God and 
working righteousness. One who, retaining these bless- 
ings with the strictest care, keeping them as the apple of 
his eye, at the same time loves as friends, as brethren in 
the Lord, as members of Christ and children of God, as 
joint partakers now of the present kingdom of God, and fel- 
low-heirs of his eternal kingdom, all, of whatever opinion, 
or worship, or congregation, who believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who love God and man, who, rejoicing to please 
and fearing to offend God, are careful to abstain from evil, 
and zealous of good works. He is the man of a truly - 
catholic spirit, who bears all these continually upon his 
heart — who, having an unspeakable tenderness for their 
persons, and longing for their welfare, does not cease to 
commend them to God in prayer, as well as to plead their 
cause before men — who speaks comfortably to them, and 
labors by all his words to strengthen their hands in God. 
He assists them to the uttermost of his power in all things, 
spiritual and temporal. He is ready 'to spend and be 
spent for them;' yea, 'to lay down his life for their sake.' " 
(Sermons.) 

The first conference was held in June, 1744. The 
societies had spread through various parts of the kingdom; 
and a number of preachers, under the name of assistants 
and helpers, the former being superintendents of the latter, 
had been engaged by Mr. Wesley in the work. Some 
clergymen, also, more or less co-operated to promote these 



133 



THE LIFE OF 



attempts to spread the flame of true religion, and were not 
yet afraid of the cross. These circumstances led to the 
distribution of different parts of the kingdom into circuits, 
to which certain preachers were for a time appointed, and 
were then removed to others. The superintendence of 
the whole was in the two brothers, but particularly in Mr. 
John Wesley. The annual conferences afforded, therefore, 
an admirable opportunity of conversing on important points 
and distinctions of doctrine, that all might " speak the 
same thing" in their public ministrations, and of agreeing 
upon such a discipline as the new circumstances in which 
the societies were placed might require. The labors of 
the preachers for the ensuing year were also arranged, and 
consultation was held on all matters connected with the 
promotion of the work of God, in which they were engaged. 
Every thing went on, however, not on preconceived plan, 
but " step by step," as circumstances suggested, and led 
the way. To the great principle of doing good to the souls 
of men, every thing was subordinated; not excepting even 
their prejudices and fears, as will appear from the minutes 
of the first conference, which was held in London, as just 
stated, in 1744. The ultimate separation of the societies 
from the Church, after the death of the first agents in the 
work, was at that early period contemplated as a possi- 
bility, and made a subject of conversation; and the resolu- 
tion was, "We do and will do all we can to prevent those 
consequences which are supposed to be likely to happen 
after our death; but we can not, in good conscience, neglect 
the present opportunity of saving souls while we live, for 
fear of consequences which may possibly, or probably, 
happen after we are dead." To this principle Mr. Wesley 
was "faithful unto death," and it is the true key to his 
public conduct. His brother, after some years, less steadily 
adhered to it; and most of the clergymen, who attached 
themselves to Mr. Wesley in the earlier periods of Meth- 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



139 



odism, found it too bold a position, and one which exposed 
them to too severe a fire, to be maintained by them. It 
required a firmer courage than theirs to hold out at such 
a post; but the founder of Methodism never betrayed the 
trust which circumstances had laid upon him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The year 1745 was chiefly spent by Mr. Charles Wes- 
ley in London, Bristol, and Wales. In the early part of 
the next year, he paid a visit to a society raised up by Mr. 
Whitefield at Plymouth, and from thence proceeded into 
Cornwall, where he preached in various places with great 
success; but in some of them amidst much persecution. 
He reviewed this journey with great thankfulness, because 
of the effects which had been produced by his ministry; 
and at the close of it he wrote the hymn beginning with 
the stanza, 

u All thanks be to God, 

Who scatters abroad 

Throughout every place, 
By the least of his servants, his savor of grace: 

Who the victory gave 

The praise let him have, 

For the work he hath done ; 
All honor and glory to Jesus alone!" 

On his return to London, through the introduction of 
Mr. E. Perronet, a pious young man, he visited the Rev. 
Vincent Perronet, the venerable vicar of Shoreham, in 
Kent, a very holy and excellent clergyman, of whose wise 
and considerate counsels the Wesleys afterward frequently 
availed themselves, in all matters which involved particu- 
lar difficulty. The name of Wesley was, however, it seems, 
every-where become a signal for riot; for being invited to 
perform service in Shoreham church, "as soon," says he, 



140 



THE LIFE OF 



"as I began to preach, the wild beasts began roaring, 
stamping, blaspheming, ringing the bells, and turning the 
church into a bear garden. I spoke on for half an hour, 
though only the nearest could hear. The rioters followed 
us to Mr. Perronet's house, raging, threatening, and throw- 
ing stones. Charles Perronet hung over me to intercept 
the blows. They continued their uproar after we got into 
the house.' ' (Journal.) 

Mr. E. Perronet returned with him to London, and ac- 
companied him on a tour to the north. On the way, they 
visited Staffordshire, which was still riotous and persecu- 
ting; and Mr. Charles "Wesley's young friend had a second 
specimen of the violent and ignorant prejudice with which 
these modern apostles were followed. The mob beset 
the house at Tippen Green, and, beating at the door, 
demanded entrance. " I sat still," says he, "in the midst 
of them for half an hour, and was a little concerned for 
E. Perronet, lest such rough treatment, at his first setting 
out, should daunt him. But he abounded in valor, and 
was for reasoning with the wild beasts before they had 
spent any of their violence. He got a deal of abuse 
thereby, and not a little dirt, both of which he took very 
patiently. I had no design to preach; but being called 
upon by so unexpected a congregation, I rose at last, and 
read, 'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the 
throne of his glory.' While I reasoned with them of judg- 
ment to come, they grew calmer by little and little. I 
then spoke to them, one by one, till the Lord had disarmed 
them all. One who stood out the longest, I held by the 
hand, and urged the love of Christ crucified, till, in spite 
of both his natural and diabolical courage, he trembled 
like a leaf. I was constrained to break out into prayer for 
him. Our leopards were all become lambs; and very kind 
we were at parting. Near midnight the house was clear 



REV. JOHN WESLEl'. 



141 



and quiet. We gave thanks to God for our salvation, and 
slept in peace." (Journal.) 

Proceeding onward to Dewsbury, he met with an in- 
stance of clerical candor, which, as it was rare in those 
times, deserves to be recorded: "The minister did not 
condemn the society unheard, but talked with them, ex- 
amined into the doctrine they had been taught, and its 
effects on their lives. When he found that as many as 
had been affected by the preaching were evidently re- 
formed, and brought to church and sacrament, he testified 
his approbation of the work, and rejoiced that sinners 
were converted to God." (Whitehead's Life.) 

After visiting Newcastle, he went, at the request of Mr. 
Wardrobe, a dissenting minister, to Hexham, where the 
following incidents occurred: "I walked directly to the 
market-place, and called sinners to repentance. A multi- 
tude of them stood staring at me, but all quiet. The Lord 
opened my mouth, and they drew nearer and nearer, stole 
off their hats, and listened; none offered to interrupt, but 
one unfortunate esquire who could get no one to second 
him. His servants and the constables hid themselves; one 
he found, and bid him go and take me down. The poor 
constable simply answered, "Sir, I can not have the face 
to do it, for what harm does he do?' Several Papists 
attended, and the Church minister who had refused me 
his pulpit with indignation. However, he came to hear 
with his own ears. I wish all who hang us first would, 
like him, try us afterward. 

"I walked back to Mr, Ord's through the people, who 
acknowledged, ' It is the truth, and none can speak against 
it.' A constable followed, and told me, 'Sir Edward 
Blacket orders you to disperse the town' — depart, I sup- 
pose he meant — 'and not raise a disturbance here.' I 
?ent my respects to Sir Edward, and said, if he would give 



142 



THE LIFE OF 



me leave, I would wait upon him and satisfy him, He 
soon returned with an answer that Sir Edward would 
have nothing to say to me; but if I preached again, and 
raised a disturbance, he would put the law in execution 
against me. I answered that I was not conscious of 
breaking any law of God or man; but if I did, I was 
ready to suffer the penalty; that, as I had not given notice 
of preaching again at the Cross, I should not preach 
again at that place, nor cause a disturbance any where. 
I charged the constable, a trembling, submissive soul, to 
assure his worship that I reverenced him for his office's 
sake. The only place I could get to preach in was a 
cockpit, and I expected Satan would come and fight me 
on his own ground. 'Squire Roberts, the justice's son, 
labored hard to raise a mob, for which I was to be an- 
swerable; but the very boys ran away from him, when 
the poor 'Squire persuaded them to go down to the cock- 
pit and cry fire. I called, in words then first heard in 
that place, 1 Repent and be converted, that your sins may 
be blotted out.' God struck the hard rock, and the waters 
gushed out. Never have I seen a people more desirous of 
knowing the truth at the first hearing. I passed the even- 
ing in conference with Mr. "Wardrobe. 0 that all our 
dissenting ministers were like-minded, then would all dis- 
sensions cease forever! November 28th, at six, we as- 
sembled again in our chapel, the cockpit. I imagined 
myself in the Pantheon, or some heathen temple, and 
almost scrupled preaching there at first; but we found 
'the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.' His 
presence consecrated the place. Never have I found a 
greater sense of God than while we were repeating his 
own prayer. I set before their eyes Christ crucified. 
The rocks were melted, and gracious tears flowed. We 
knew not how to part. I distributed some books among 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



143 



them, which they received with the utmost eagerness, 
begging me to come again, and to send our preachers to 
them." (Journal.) 

After preaching in various parts of Lincolnshire, and 
the midland counties, Mr. Charles Wesley returned to 
London; but soon, with unwearied spirit, in company with 
Mr. Minton, he set off for Bristol, taking Devizes by the 
way, where he had as narrow an escape for his life as his 
brother had experienced at Wednesbury. An account of 
these distinguished ministers of Christ would be imperfect 
without a particular notice of a few of their greatest 
perils. They show the wretched state of that country 
which they were the appointed instruments of raising into 
a higher moral and civil condition, and they illustrate 
their own character. Each of the brothers might truly 
say with an apostle, and his coadjutors, "We have not 
received the spirit of fear, but of power, [courage,] of 
love, and of a sound mind." They felt, too, that they 
"received" it; for, with them, "boasting was excluded" 
by that "law of faith" which led them in all things to 
trust in and to glorify God. The account is taken from 
Mr. Charles Wesley's journal. The Devizes mob had this 
peculiarity, that it was led on not only by the curate, but 
by two dissenters! thus "Herod and Pilate were made 
friends:" 

"February 25th — a day never to be forgotten. At 
seven o'clock I walked quietly to Mrs. Philips', and began 
preaching a little before the time appointed. For three- 
quarters of an hour, I invited a few listening sinners to 
Christ. Soon after Satan's whole army assaulted the 
house. We sat in a little ground room, and ordered all 
the doors to be thrown open. They brought a hand 
engine and began to play into the house. We kept our 
seats, and they rushed into the passage; just then, Mr. 
Borough, the constable, came, and seizing the spout of 



144 



THE LIFE OF 



the engine, carried it off. They swore if he did not 
deliver it they would pull down the house. At that time 
they might have taken us prisoners; we were close to 
them, and none to interpose; but they hurried out to 
fetch the larger engine. In the mean time we w^ere ad- 
vised to send for the mayor; but Mr. Mayor was gone out 
of town, in the sight of the people, which gave great 
encouragement to those who were already wrought up to 
a proper pitch by the curate, and the gentlemen of the 
town, particularly Mr. Sutton and Mr. Willy, dissenters, 
the two leading men. Mr. Sutton frequently came out to 
the mob to keep up their spirits. He sent word to Mrs. 
Philips, that if she did not turn that fellow out to the 
mob, he would send them to drag him out. Mr. Willy 
passed by again and again, assuring the rioters he would 
stand by them, and secure them from the law, do what 
they would. 

"The rioters now began playing the larger engine, 
which broke the windows, flooded the rooms, and spoiled 
the goods. We were withdrawn to a small upper room 
in the back part of the house, seeing no way to escape 
their violence, as they seemed under the full power of the 
old murderer. They first laid hold on the man who kept 
the society house, dragged him away, and threw him into 
the horse pond, and, it was said, broke his back. We 
gave ourselves to prayer, believing the Lord would deliver 
us; how, or when, we saw not, nor any possible way of 
escaping; we, therefore, stood still to see the salvation of 
God. Every now and then some or other of our friends 
would venture to us, but rather weakened our hands, so 
that we were forced to stop our ears and look up. Among 
the rest, the mayor's maid came, and told us her mistress 
was in tears about me, and begged me to disguise myself 
in woman's clothes, and try to make my escape. Her 
heart had been turned toward us by the conversion of her 



REV. JOHS -WESLEY. 



145 



son, just on the brink of ruin. God laid his hand on the 
poor prodigal, and instead of running to sea, he entered 
the society. The rioters without continued playing their 
engine, which diverted them for some time; but their num- 
ber and fierceness still increased; and the gentlemen sup- 
plied them with pitchers of ale, as much as they would 
drink. They were now on the point of breaking in, when 
Mr. Borough thought of reading the proclamation; he did 
so at the hazard of his life. In less than an hour, of 
above a thousand wild beasts, none were left but the guard. 
Our constable had applied to Mr. Street, the only justice 
in town, who would not act. We found there was no help 
in man, which drove us closer to the Lord; and we prayed 
with little intermission the whole day. 

"Our enemies at their return made their main assault 
at the back door, swearing horribly they would have me 
if it cost them their lives. Many seeming accidents con- 
curred to prevent their breaking in. The man of the 
house came home, and instead of turning me out as they 
expected, took part with us, and stemmed the tide for 
some time. They now got a notion that I had made my 
escape, and ran down to the inn, and played the engine 
there. They forced the innkeeper to turn out our horses, 
which he immediately sent to Mr. Clark's, which drew the 
rabble and their engine thither. But the resolute old man 
charged and presented his gun till they retreated. Upon 
their revisiting us, we stood in jeopardy every moment. 
Such threatenings, curses, and blasphemies, I have never 
heard. They seemed kept out by a continual miracle. I 
remembered the Roman senators, sitting in the forum, 
when the Gauls broke in upon them, but thought there 
was a fitter posture for Christians, and told my companion 
they should take us off our knees. We were kept from 
all hurry and discomposure of spirit by a Divine power 
resting upon us. We prayed and conversed as freely as 

13 



146 



THE LIFE OF 



if we had been in the midst of onr brethren, and had 
great confidence that the Lord would either deliver us 
from the danger, or in it. In the hight of the storm, 
just when we were falling into the hands of the drunken, 
enraged multitude, Mr. Minton was so little disturbed that 
he fell fast asleep. 

"They were now close to us on every side, and over 
our heads untiling the roof. A ruffian cried out, 'Here 
they are, behind the curtain. ' At this time we fully 
expected their appearanca, a&d retired to the furthermost 
corner of the room, and I said, 'This is the crisis.' In 
that moment, Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, and 
there was a great calm. We heard not a breath without, 
and wondered what was become of them. The silence 
lasted for three-quarters of an hour, before an}^ one came 
near us; and we continued in mutual exhortation and 
prayer, looking for deliverance. I often told my compan- 
ions, ']STow God is at work for us; he is contriving our 
escape; he can turn these leopards into lambs; can com- 
mand the heathen to bring his children on their shoulders, 
and make our fiercest enemies the instruments of our de- 
liverance.' About three o'clock Mr. Clark knocked at the 
door, and brought with him the persecuting constable. 
He said, 'Sir, if you will promise never to preach here 
again, the gentlemen and I will engage to bring you safe 
out of town.' My answer was, 'I shall promise no such 
thing; setting aside my office, I will not give up my birth- 
right, as an Englishman, of visiting what place I please 
of his Majesty's dominions.' 'Sir,' said the constable, 
'we expect no such promise, that you will never come 
here again; only tell me that it is not your present inten- 
tion, that I may tell the gentlemen, who will then secure 
your quiet departure.' I answered, 'I can not come 
again at this time, because I must return to London a 
week hence. But, observe, I make no promise of not 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



147 



preaching here when the door is opened; and do not you 
say that I do.' 

"He went away with this answer, and we betook our- 
selves to prayer and thanksgiving. We perceived it was 
the Lord's doings, and it was marvelous in our eyes. The 
hearts of our adversaries were turned. Whether pity for 
us, or fear for themselves, wrought strongest, God know- 
eth; probably the latter, for the mob were wrought up to 
such a pitch of fury that their masters dreaded the conse- 
quence, and therefore went about appeasing the multitude, 
and charging them not to touch us in our departure. 

"While the constable was gathering his posse, we got 
our things from Mr. Clark's, and prepared to go forth. 
The whole multitude were without, expecting us, and 
saluted us with a general shout. The man Mrs. Naylor 
had hired to ride before her was, as we now perceived, 
one of the rioters. This hopeful guide was to conduct us 
out of the reach of his fellows. Mr. Minton and I took 
horse in the face of our enemies, who began clamoring 
against us; the gentlemen were dispersed among the mob, 
to bridle them. We rode a slow pace up the street, the 
whole multitude pouring along on both sides, and attend- 
ing us with loud acclamations. Such fierceness and dia- 
bolical malice I have not before seen in human faces. 
They ran up to our horses as if they would swallow us, 
but did not know which was Wesley. We felt great peace 
and acquiescence in the honor done us, while the whole 
tewn were spectators of our march. When out of sight 
we mended our pace, and about seven o'clock came tc 
Wrexall. The news of our danger was got thither before 
us; but we brought the welcome tidings of our deliver- 

o o 

ance. We joined in hearty prayer to our Deliverer, sing- 
ing the hymn, 

'Worship, and thanks, and blessings,' etc. 

"February 26th, I preached at Bath, and we rejoiced 



148 THE LIFE OF 

like men who take the spoil. We continued our triumph 
at Bristol, and reaped the fruit of our labors and suf- 
ferings." 

Amidst such storms, more or less violent, were the 
foundations of that work laid, the happy results of which 
tens of thousands now enjoy in peace. But even the 
piety which could hazard such labors and dangers for 
the sake of " seeking and saving the lost," and the heroic 
devotedness which remained constant under them, has 
not been able to win the praise of prejudiced writers on 
the subject of Methodism. Dr. Southey (Life of Wesley) 
has little sympathy with the sufferings which a persecuted 
people were doomed in many places so callously to endure; 
and he finds in the heroism of their leaders a subject of 
reproach and contempt rather than of that admiration 
which, had they occupied some poetical position, he had 
doubtless expressed as forcibly and nobly as any man. 

Mr. Whitefield, he tells us, had " a great longing to be 
persecuted," though the quotation from one of his letters, 
on which he justifies the aspersion, shows nothing more 
than a noble defiance of suffering, should it occur in the 
course of what he esteemed his duty. Similar sarcasms 
have been cast by infidels upon all who, in every age, 
have suffered for the sake of Christ; and, like those in 
which Dr. Southey has indulged, they were intended to 
darken the luster of that patient courage which sprang 
out of love to the Savior and the souls of men, by re- 
solving it into spiritual pride, and a desire to render 
themselves conspicuous. Of John Nelson, one of Mr. 
Wesley's first lay coadjutors, who endured no ordinary 
share of oppression and suffering, as unprovoked and 
unmerited as the most modest and humble demeanor on 
his part could render it, Dr. Southey truly says, that "he 
had as high a spirit and as brave a heart as ever English- 
man was blessed with;" yet even the narration of his 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



149 



wrongs, so scandalous to the magistracy of the day, and 
which were sustained by him in the full spirit of Christian 
constancy, is not dismissed without a sneer at this honest 
and suffering man himself. "To prison, therefore, Kelson 
was taken, to his heart's content" And so, because he 
chose a prison rather than violate his conscience, and 
endured imprisonments and other injuries, with the un- 
bending feeling of a high and noble mind, corrected and 
controlled by "the meekness and gentleness of Christ/ ' 
imprisonment was his desire, and the distinction which he is 
supposed to have derived from it, his motive! Before crit- 
icism so flippant and callous, no character, however sacred 
and revered, could stand. It might be applied with equal 
success to the persecutions of the apostles, and the first 
Christians themselves: to the confessors in the reiori of 
Mary; and to the whole "noble army of martyrs." 

The real danger to which these excellent men were 
exposed is, however, concealed by Dr. Southey. White- 
field's fears, or rather hopes of persecution, he says, 
"were suited to the days of Queen Mary, Bishop Gardi- 
ner, and Bishop Bonner; they were ridiculous or disgusting 
in the time of George the Second, Archbishop Potter, and 
Bishop Gibson." This is said because Mr. Whitefield 
thought that he might probably be called to "resist unto 
blood;" and our author would have it supposed, that all 
this was "safe boasting," in the reign of George the Sec- 
ond, and while the English Church had its Archbishop 
Potter and its Bishop Gibson. But not even in the early 
part of the reign of George the Third, and with other 
bishops in the Church as excellent as Potter and Gibson, 
was the anticipation groundless. The real danger was in 
fact so great from the brutality of the populace, the igno- 
rance and supineness of the magistrates, and the mob- 
exciting activity of the clergy, one of whom was usually 
the instigator of every tumult, that every man who went 

13* 



150 



THE LIFE OF 



forth on the errand of mercy in that day took his life in 
his hand, and needed the spirit of a martyr, though he 
was not in danger of suffering a martyr's death by regular 
civil or ecclesiastical process. Dr. Southey has himself 
in part furnished the confutation of his own suggestion, 
that little danger was to be apprehended, by the brief 
statements he has given of the hair-breadth escapes of the 
Wesleys, and of the sufferings of John Nelson. But a 
volume might be filled with accounts of outrages committed! 
from that day to our own, in different places — for they now 
occasionally occur in obscure and unenlightened parts of 
the country — upon the persons of Methodist preachers, for 
the sole fault of visiting neglected places, and preaching 
the Gospel of salvation to those who, if Christianity be 
true, are in a state of spiritual darkness and danger. To 
be pelted with stones, dragged through ponds, beaten with 
bludgeons, rolled in mud, and to suffer other modes of ill 
treatment, was the anticipation of all the first preachers 
when they entered upon their work; and this was also the 
lot of many of their hearers. Some hves were lost, and 
many shortened; the most singular escapes are on record; 
and if the tragedy was not deeper, that was owing at 
length to the explicit declarations of George III on the 
subject of toleration, and the upright conduct of the judges 
in their circuits, and in the higher courts, when an appeal 
was made to the laws in some of the most atrocious cases. 
Assuredly, the country magistrates in general, and the 
clergy, were entitled to little share of the praise. Much 
of this is acknowledged by Dr. Southey; but he attempts 
to throw a part of the blame upon the Wesleys themselves. 
4 'Their doctrines of perfection and assurance' ' were, he 
thinks, among the causes of their persecution; and "their 
zeal was not tempered with discretion." With discretion, in 
his view of it, their zeal was not tempered. Such discretion 
would neither have put them in the way of persecution, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



151 



nor brought it upon them; it would have disturbed 
no sinner and saved no soul; but they were not indiscreet 
in seeking danger, and provoking language never escaped 
lips in which the law of meekness always triumphed: and 
as for doctrines, the mobs and their exciters were then 
just as discriminating as mobs have ever been from the 
beginning of the world. They were usually stirred up by 
the clergy, and other persons of influence in the neighbor- 
hood, who were almost as ignorant as the ruffians they 
employed to assault the preachers and their peaceable con- 
gregations. The description of the mob at Ephesus, in 
the Acts of the Apostles, suited them as well as if they 
had been the original, and not the copy: "Some cried one 
thing, and some another; for the assembly was confused; 
and the most part knew not wherefore they were come 
together." They generally, however, agreed to pull down 
the preacher, and to abuse both him and his hearers, men, 
women, and even children; and that because "they 
troubled them about religion." 

That immediate resort to God in prayer, which was 
practiced, in cases of "peril and danger," by these perse- 
cuted ministers, and their ascription of deliverances to the 
Divine interposition, as in the instances above given, have 
also been subjects of either grave rebuke or semi-infidel 
ridicule. It is not necessary to contend that every particu- 
lar instance which, in the journals of the Wesley s, is 
referred to an immediate answer to prayer, was so in 
reality; because a few cases may reasonably appear doubt- 
ful. These, however, only prove that they cultivated the 
habit of regarding God in all things, and of gratefully 
acknowledging 1 his hand in all the events of life; and if 
there was at any time any over-application of these excel- 
lent views and feelings, yet in minds so sober as to make 
the word of God, diligently studied, their only guide in all 
matters of practice, no injurious result could follow. But 



152 



THE LIFE OF 



we must reject the Bible altogether, if we shut out a par- 
ticular providence; and we reduce prayer to a real ab- 
surdity, unless we allow that its very ground and reason 
is special interposition. Why, for instance, should a Col- 
lect teach us to pray that "this day we may fall into no 
sin, neither run into any kind of danger," if we do not 
thereby place ourselves under a special protection of God, 
and if our interests must necessarily be dragged after the 
wheel of some general system of government? Divine 
interposition is, indeed, ordinarily invisible, and can be 
known only from general results; it impresses no mark 
of interruption or of quickened activity upon the general 
courses of things with which we may be surrounded; it 
works often unconsciously through our own faculties, and 
through the wills and purposes of others, as unconscious 
of it as we ourselves; yet even in this case, where the 
indevout see man only, the better instructed acknowledge 
God who "worketh all in all." But to say that the hand 
of God is never specially marked in its operations; that his 
servants who are raised up by him for important services 
shall never receive proofs of his particular care; that an 
entire trust in him in the most critical circumstances shall 
have no visible honor put upon it; that when we are "in 
all things" commanded to make our requests known to 
God, the prayers which, in obedience to that command, 
we offer to him in the time of trouble shall never have a 
special answer, is to maintain notions wholly subversive of 
piety, and which can not be held without rejecting, or re- 
ducing to unmeaningness, many of the most explicit and 
important declarations of holy Scripture. These were not 
the views entertained by the Wesleys; and in their higher 
belief they coincided with good men in all ages. They 
felt that they were about their Master's business, and they 
trusted in their Master's care, so long as it might be for 
his glory that they should be permitted to live. Nor for 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



153 



that were they anxious; desiring only, that while they 
lived they should "live to the Lord," and that when 
they died "they should die to him;'' and that so "Christ 
might be magnified in their body, whether by life or by 
death." 

The labors of Mr. John Wesley, during the same pe- 
riod of two years, may be abridged from his journal. 
In the first month of the year 1745, we find him at Lon- 
don, and at Bristol and its neighborhood. In February 
he made a journey, in the stormy and wintry weather of 
that season, to Newcastle, preaching at various inter- 
mediate places. The following extract shows the cheerful 
and buoyant spirit with which he encountered these diffi- 
culties: 

"Many a rough journey have I had before; but one 
like this I never had, between wind and hail, and rain and 
ice, and snow, and driving sleet, and piercing cold. But 
it is past. Those days will return no more, and are there- 
fore as though they had never been. 

' Pain, disappointment, sickness, strife, 
Whate'er molests or troubles life ; 
However grievous in its stay, 
It shakes the tenement of clay, 
When past, as nothing we esteem; 
And pain, like pleasure, is a dream.' " (Journal.) 

As a specimen of that cool and self-possessed manner 
which gave him so great a power over rude minds, we 
may take the following anecdote. A man at Newcastle 
had signalized himself by personal insults offered to him 
in the streets; and, upon inquiry, he found him an old 
offender in persecuting the members of the society by 
abusing and throwing stones at them. Upon this he sent 
him the following note: 

"Robert Young, — I expect to see you, between this 
and Friday, and to hear from you, that you are sensible of 
your fault. Otherwise, in pity to your soul, I shall be 



154 



THE LIFE OF 



obliged to inform the magistrates of your assaulting me 
yesterday in the street. 

"I am your real friend, John Wesley. 

"Within two or three hours, Robert Young came, and 
promised a quite different behavior. So did this gentle 
reproof, if not save a soul from death, yet prevent a multi- 
tude of sins." (Journal.) 

While at Newcastle, he drew up the following case: 
6 'Newcastle upon Tijne, March 11, 1 745-' 46, 

"I have been drawing up this morning a short state of 
the case between the clergy and us: I leave you to make 
any such use of it as you believe will be to the glory of 
God. 

" 1. About seven years since we began preaching in- 
ward, present salvation, as attainable by faith alone, 

"2. For preaching this doctrine we were forbidden to 
preach in the churches. 

"3. We then preached in private houses, as occasion 
offered; and when the houses could not contain the people, 
in the open air. 

"4. For this many of the clergy preached or printed 
against us, as both heretics and schismatics. 

"5. Persons who were convinced of sin begged us to 
advise them more particularly how to flee from the wrath 
to come. We replied, if they would all come at one time — 
for they were numerous — we would endeavor it. 

"6. For this we were represented, both from the pulpit 
and the press — we have heard it with our ears, and seen 
it with our eyes — as introducing Popery, raising sedition, 
practicing both against Church and state; and all manner 
of evil was publicly said both of us and those who were 
accustomed to meet with us. 

"7. Finding some truth herein, namely, that some of 
those who so met together walked disorderly, we imme- 
diately desired them not to come to us any more. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



155 



"8. And the more steady were desired to overlook the 
rest, that we might know if they walked according to the 
Gospel. 

"9. But now several of the bishops began to speak 
against us, either in conversation or in public. 

"10. On this encouragement several of the clergy 
stirred up the people to treat us as outlaws or mad dogs. 

"11. The people did so, both in Staffordshire, Cora- 
wall, and many other places. 

" 12. And they do still, wherever they are not restrained 
by their fear of the secular magistrate. 

4 'Thus the case stands at present. Xow, what can we 
do, or what can you our brethren do toward healing this 
breach? which is highly desirable; that we may withstand, 
with joint force, the still increasing flood of Popery, De- 
ism, and immorality. 

"Desire of us anv thing we can do with a safe con- 
science, and we will do it immediately. Will you meet us 
here? Will you do what we desire of you so far as you 
can with a safe conscience? 

"Let us come to particulars. Do you desire us, 1. To 
preach another, or to desist from preaching this, doctrine? 

"We think you do not desire it, as knowing we can not 
do this with a safe conscience. 

"Do you desire us, 2. To desist from preaching in pri- 
vate houses, or in the open air? As things are now cir- 
cumstanced, this would be the same as desiring us not to 
preach at all. 

"Do you desire us, 3. To desist from advising those 
who now meet together for that purpose? or, in other 
words, to dissolve our societies? 

"We can not do this with a safe conscience; for we 
apprehend many souls will be lost thereby, and that God 
would require their blood at our hands. 

"Do you desire us, 4. To advise them only one by one? 



156 



THE LIFE OS* 



"This is impossible, because of their number. 

"Do you desire us, 5. To suffer those who walk disor- 
derly still to mix with the rest? 

"Neither can we do this with a safe conscience; because 
evil communications corrupt good manners. 

"Do you desire us, 6. To discharge those leaders of 
bands or classes — as we term them — who overlook the 
rest? 

"This is, in effect, to suffer the disorderly walkers still 
to mix with the rest, which w$ dare not do. 

"Do you desire us, lastly, to behave with reverence 
toward those who are overseers of the Church of God? and 
with tenderness, both to the character and persons of our 
brethren, the inferior clergy? 

"By the grace of God, we can and will do this. Yea, 
our conscience beareth us witness, that we have already 
labored so to do, and that at all times and in all places. 

"If you ask, what we desire of you to do, we answer: 
1. We do not desire any of you to let us preach in your 
churches, either if you believe us to preach false doctrine, 
or if you have, upon any other ground, the least scruple 
concerning it. But we desire that any who believe us to 
preach true doctrine, and has no scruple at all in this mat- 
ter, may not be either publicly or privately discouraged 
from inviting us to preach in his church. 

"2. We do not desire that any one who thinks that we 
are heretics or schismatics, and that it is his duty to preach 
or print against us as such, should refrain therefrom, so 
long as he thinks it his duty — although in this case the 
breach can never be healed. 

"But we desire that none will pass such a sentence, till 
he has calmly considered both sides of the question; that 
he would not condemn us unheard, but first read what we 
have written, and pray earnestly that God may direct him 
in the right way. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



157 



"3. We do not desire any favor, if either Popery, sedi- 
tion, or immorality be proved against us. 

"But we desire you will not credit, without proof, any 
of those senseless tales that pass current with the vulgar; 
that, if you do not credit them yourselves, you will not 
relate them to others — which we have known done — yea, 
that you will confute them, so far as ye have opportunity, 
and discountenance those who still retail them abroad. 

"4. We do not desire any preferment, favor, or recom- 
mendation from those that are in authority, either in 
Church or state. But we desire, 

"1. That if any thing material be laid to our charge, 
we may be permitted to answer for ourselves. 2. That 
you would hinder your dependents from stirring up the 
rabble against us, who are certainly not the proper judges 
of these matters; and 3. That you would effectually sup- 
press, and thoroughly discountenance, all riots and popular 
insurrections, which evidently strike at the foundation of 
all government, whether of Church or state. 

"Xow these things you certainly can do, and that with 
a safe conscience; therefore, till these things are done, the 
continuance of the breach is chargeable on you and you 
only." (Works, vol. iii, pp. 329-331.) 

It is evident from this paper that Mr. Wesley's difficul- 
ties, arising from his having raised up a distinct people, 
within the national Church, pressed upon him. He desired 
union and co-operation with the clergy, but his hope was 
disappointed; and, perhaps, it was much more than he 
could reasonably indulge. It shows, however, his own 
sincerity, and that he was not only led into his course of 
irregularity, but impelled forward in it, by circumstances 
which his zeal and piety had created, and which all his 
prejudices in favor of the Church could not control. 

After spending some time in Newcastle and the neigh- 
boring places, he visited Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lan- 

14 



158 



THE LIFE OF 



cashire, and Cheshire. On his return southward he called 
at Wednesbury, long the scene of riot, and preached in 
peace. At Birmingham he had to abide the pelting of 
stones and dirt; and, on his return to London, he found 
some of the society inclined to Quakerism; but, by read- 
ing " Barclay's Apology" over with them, and commenting 
upon it, they were recovered. Antinomianism, both of 
Mystic and Calvinistic origin, also gave him trouble; but 
his testimony against it was unsparing. To erroneous 
opinions, when innocent, no man was more tender; but 
when they infected the conduct, they met from him the 
sternest resistance. " I would wish all to observe, that 
the points in question between us and either the German 
or English Antinomians are not points of opinion, but of 
practice. We break with no man for his opinion. We 
think and let think." (Journal.) 

In the summer he proceeded to Cornwall, where Dr. 
Borlase, the historian of that country, in the plenitude of 
his magisterial authority, still carried on a systematic per- 
secution against the Methodists. He had made out an 
order for Mr. Maxfield, who had been preaching in various 
places, to be sent on board a man-of-war, but the captain 
would not take him. A pious and peaceable miner, with 
a wife and seven children, was also apprehended under the 
Doctor's warrant, because he had said "that he knew his 
sins forgiven;" and this zealous anti-heretic finally made 
out a warrant against Mr. Wesley himself, but could find 
no one to execute it. From Cornwall, where his ministry 
had been attended with great effect, Mr. Wesley proceeded 
to Wales, and thence to Bristol. 

Count Zinzendorf, about this time, directed the publica - 
tion of an advertisement, declaring that he and his people 
had no connection with John and Charles Wesley; and 
concluded with a prophecy, that they would "soon run 
their heads against a wall." On this Mr Wesley contents 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



159 



himself with coolly remarking, "We will not, if we can 
help it." 

He now proceeded northward; and at Northampton 
called on Dr. Doddridge, from whom he had previously 
received several letters, breathing the most catholic spirit. 
At Ifeeds the mob pelted him and the congregation with 
dire and stones: and the next evening, being "in higher 
excitement, they were ready," says he, "to knock out our 
brains for joy that the duke of Tuscany was emperor." 
On his arrival at Newcastle, the town was in the utmost 
consternation, news having arrived that the pretender had 
entered Edinburg. By the most earnest preaching, he 
endeavored to turn this season of alarm to the spiritual 
profit of the people, and the large congregations whom he 
addressed in the streets heard with solemn attention. He 
then visited Epworth, but speedily returned to Newcastle, 
judging, probably, that the place of anxiety and danger 
was his post of duty. Here he made an offer to the gen- 
eral, through one of the aldermen, to preach to the troops 
encamped near the town, whose dissolute language and 
manners greatly affected him; but he seems to have re- 
ceived no favorable answer; so, after preaching a few times 
near the camp, he returned southward, endeavoring, at 
Leeds, Birmingham, and other places, to turn the public 
agitation, arising from the apprehension of civil war, to the 
best account, by enforcing "repentance toward God, and 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Mr. Wesley had occasionally employed himself in writ- 
ing and getting printed small religious tracts, many thou- 
sand^ of which were distributed. This was revived with 
vigor on his return to London this year; and he thus, by 
his example, was probably the first to apply, on any large 
scale, this important means of usefulness to the reforma- 
tion of the people. In the form of those excellent institu- 
tions called "tract societies," the same plan has now long 



160 



THE LIFE OF 



been carried on systematically, to the great spiritual ad- 
vantage of many thousands. At this period he observes, 
adverting to the numerous small tracts he had written and 
distributed, "It pleased God hereby to provoke others to 
jealousy; insomuch that the lord mayor had ordered a 
large quantity of papers, dissuading from cursing and 
swearing, to be printed, and distributed to the train-bands. 
And this day, an ' Earnest Exhortation to Serious Repent- 
ance' was given at every church door in or near London, 
to every person who camo out, and one left at the house 
of every householder who was absent from church. I 
doubt not but God gave a blessing there with." * 

In the early part of 1746, we find the following entry 
in Mr. Wesley's journal: "I set out for Bristol. On the 
road I read over Lord King's Account of the Primitive 
Church. In spite of the vehement prejudice of my educa- 
tion, I was ready to believe that this was a fair and impar- 
tial draught. But if so, it would follow, that bishops and 
presbyters are — essentially — of one order; and that origin- 
ally every Christian congregation was a Church independ- 
ent on all others!" 

The truth is, that Lord King came in only to confirm 

* Journal. — Previous to this we find him a tract writer and distributer; 
for he observes in the year 1742, " I set out for Brentford with Robert 
Swindels. The next day we reached Marlboro. When one in the 
room beneath us was swearing desperately, Mr. Swindels stepped down, 
and put into his hand the paper entitled Sivear not at all. He thanked 
him, and promised to swear no more. And he did not while he was in 
the house." Mr. Wesley had already written tracts entitled, 41 A Word 
to a Smuggler," "A Word to a Sabbath-Breaker," u A Word to a 
Swearer," "A Word to a Drunkard," u A Word to a Street- Walker," 14 A 
Word to a Malefactor," and several others. He published these that his 
preachers and people might have them to give away to those who were 
guilty of these crimes, or in danger of falling into them. He considered 
this as one great means of spreading the knowledge of God. He also 
gave his early influence to the Sunday school system. Mr. Raikes began 
his Sunday school in Gloucester in 1784; and in January, 1785, Mr. Wes- 
ley published an account of it in his magazine, and exhorted his societies 
to imitate that laudable example. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



161 



him in views which he had for some time begun to enter- 
tain; and they were such as show, that though he was a 
Church of England man as to affection, which was strong 
and sincere as far as its doctrines and its liturgy were con- 
cerned, and though he regarded it with great deference as 
a legal institution, yet in respect to its ecclesiastical polity 
he was even then very free in his opinions. At the second 
conference, in 1745, it was asked, "Is Episcopal, Presby- 
terian, or Independent church government, most agreeable 
to reason?" The answer is as follows: 

" The plain origin of Church government seems to be 
this: Christ sends forth a person to preach the Gospel: 
some of those who hear him, repent and believe in 
Christ: they then desire him to watch over them, to build 
them up in faith, and to guide their souls into paths of 
righteousness. Here, then, is an independent congrega- 
tion, subject to no pastor but their own; neither liable to 
be controlled, in things spiritual, by any other man, or 
body of men whatsoever. But soon after, some from other 
parts, who were occasionally present while he was speak- 
ing in the name of the Lord, beseech him to come over 
and help them also. He complies, yet not till he confers 
with the wisest and holiest of his cono-reo-ation; and, with 
their consent, appoints one who has gifts and grace to watch 
over his flock in his absence. If it please God to raise 
another flock, in the new place, before he leaves them, 
he does the same thing, appointing one whom God hath 
fitted for the work to watch over these souls also. In like 
manner, in every place where it pleases God to gather a 
little flock by his word, he appoints one in his absence to 
take the oversight of the rest, to assist them as of the 
ability which God giveth. 

"These are deacons, or servants of the Church, and 
they look upon their first pastor as the common father of 
all these congregations, and regard him in the same light, 

14* 



162 



THE LIFE OF 



and esteem him still as the shepherd of their souls. These 
congregations are not strictly independent, as they depend 
upon one pastor, though not upon each other. 

"As these congregations increase, and the deacons 
grow in years and grace, they need other subordinate 
deacons, or helpers, in respect of whom they may be called 
presbyters or elders, as their father in the Lord may- be 
called the bishop or overseer of them all."* 

This passage is important, as it shows that from the first 
he regarded his preachers, when called out and devoted to 
the work, as, in respect of primitive antiquity and the uni- 
versal Church, parallel to deacons and presbyters. He 
also then thought himself a Scriptural bishop. Lord 
King's researches into antiquity served to confirm these 
sentiments, and corrected his former notion as to a distinc- 
tion of orders. 

It should here be stated, that at these early conferences 
one sitting appears to have been devoted to conversation 
on matters of discipline, in which the propriety of Mr. 
Wesley's proceedings in forming societies, calling out 
preachers, and originating a distinct religious community, 
governed by its own laws, were considered; and this nec- 
essarily led to the examination of general questions of 
Church government and order. This will explain the 
reason why in the conferences which Mr. Wesley, his 
brother, two or three clergymen, and a few preachers held 
in the years 1744, 1745, 1746, and 1747, such subjects 
were discussed as are contained in the above extract and 
in those which follow. On these, as on all others, they 
set out with the principle of examining every thing "to 
the foundation." 

[* It was in this relation, and from pressing necessity in circumstances 
of extreme emergency, that Mr. Wesley, assisted by other presbyters, 
ordained Dr. Coke, and through him Mr. Asbury, as superintendents, or 
bishops, of the American Methodist Churches. — American Edit.] 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



163 



" Q. Can he be a spiritual governor of the Church who 
is not a believer, not a member of it? 

"A. It seems not; though he may be a governor in 
outward things, by a power derived from the king. 

"Q. What are properly the laws of the Church of Eng- 
land? 

"A. The Rubrics: and to these we submit, as the ordi- 
nance of men, for the Lord's sake. 

" Q. But is not the will of our governors a law? 

"A. 'No, not of any governor, temporal or spiritual; 
therefore, if any bishop wills that I should not preach the 
Gospel, his will is no law to me. 

"Q. But if he produce a law against your preaching? 

"A. I am to obey God rather than man." 



" Q. Is mutual consent absolutely necessary between 
the pastor and his flock? 

" A. No question. I can not guide any soul, unless he 
consent to be guided by me; neither can any soul force 
me to guide him, if I consent not. 

"Q. Does the ceasing of this consent on either side 
dissolve this relation? 

"A. It must in the very nature of things. If a man 
no longer consent to be guided by me, I am no longer his 
guide — I am free. If one will not guide me any longer, 
I am free to seek one who will." 



" Q. Does a Church in the !New Testament always mean 
a single congregation? 

" A. We believe it does; we do not recollect any in- 
stance to the contrary. 

" Q. What instance or ground is there then in the New 
Testament for a national Church? 

"A. We know none at all; we apprehend it to be a 
merely -political institution. 



164 



THE LIFE OF 



"Q. Are the three orders of bishops, priests, and dea- 
cons plainly described in the New Testament? 

" A. We think they are, and believe they generally ob- 
tained in the Church of the apostolic age. 

"Q. But are you assured that God designed the same 
plan should obtain in all Churches, throughout all ages? 

" A. We are not assured of it, because we do not know 
it is asserted in Holy Writ. 

"Q. If the plan were essential to a Christian Church, 
what must become of all foreign Reformed Churches? 

" A. It would follow they are rio part of the Church of 
Christ: a consequence full of shocking absurdity. 

"Q. In what age was the divine right of Episcopacy 
first asserted in England? 

"A. About the middle of Queen Elizabeth's reign: till 
then all the bishops and clergy in England continually 
allowed and joined in the ministrations of those who were 
not episcopally ordained. 

"Q. Must there not be numberless accidental variations 
in the government of various Churches? 

"A. There must, in the nature of things. As God 
variously dispenses his gifts of nature, providence, and 
grace, both the offices themselves, and the officers in each, 
ought to be varied from time to time. 

"Q. Why is it that there is no determinate plan of 
Church government appointed in Scripture? 

"A. Without doubt because the wisdom of God had a 
regard to that necessary variety. 

"Q. Was there any thought of uniformity in the gov- 
ernment of all Churches, till the time of Constantine? 

" A. It is certain there was not, nor would there have 
been then had men consulted the word of God only." 

Nothing, therefore, can be more clear, than that Mr. 
Wesley laid the ground-work of his future proceedings 
after much deliberation, at this early stage of his progress. 



REV. JOHK WESLEY. 



166 



He felt that a case of necessity had arisen, calling upon 
him to provide a ministry and a government for the people 
who had been raised up; a necessity which rested upon 
the obvious alternative, that they must be either furnished 
with pastors of their own, or be left without sufficient aid 
in the affairs of their souls. This led him closely to ex- 
amine the whole matter; and he saw that when the author- 
ity of Scripture alone was referred to in matters of Church 
arrangement and regulation, it enjoined no particular form 
of administration as binding, but left the application of 
certain great and inviolable principles to the piety and 
prudence of those whom God might honor as the instru- 
ments of usefulness to the souls of men. Here he took 
his stand; and he proceeded to call forth preachers, ^nd 
set them apart, or ordain them* to the sacred office, and to 

* The act of setting apart ministers by Mr. Wesley, but without impo- 
sition of hands, is here called their ordination, although that term has not 
been generally in use among us; and maybe objected to by those who do 
not consider that imposition of hands, however impressive as a form, and 
in most Churches the uniform practice, is still but a circumstance, and 
can not enter into the essence of ordination. That every religious society 
has the power to determine the mode in which u the separation" of its 
ministers u to the Gospel of God" shall be visibly notified and expressed, 
will only be questioned by those whom prejudice and a wretched bigotry 
have brought under their influence. What the body of Methodists now 
practice in this respect, will, however, be allowed to stand on clearer 
ground than the proceedings of Mr. Wesley, who still continued in com- 
munion with the Church. It has, therefore, been generally supposed 
that Mr. Wesley did not consider his appointment of preachers, without 
imposition of hands, as an ordination to the ministry ; but only as an irreg- 
ular employment of laymen in the spiritual office of merely expounding 
the Scriptures in a case of moral necessity. This, however, is not cor- 
rect. They were not appointed to expound or preach merely, but were 
solemnly set apart to the pastoral office, as the minutes of the conferences 
show; nor were they regarded by him as laymen, except when in com- 
mon parlance they were distinguished from the clergy of the Church; in 
which case he would have called any dissenting minister a layman. The 
first extract from the minutes of the conferences above given, sufficiently 
shows that as to the Church of Christ at large, and as to his own societies, 
he regarded the preachers, when fully devoted to the work, not as laymen* 
but as spiritual men, and ministers; men, as he says, "moved by the 
Holy Ghost" to preach the Gospel, and who after trial were ordained to 



166 



THE LIFE OF 



enlarge the work by their means, under the full conviction 
of his acting under as clear a Scriptural authority as could 
be pleaded by Churchmen for Episcopacy, by the Presby- 
terians for Presbytery, or by the Congregationalists for 
independency. Still he did not go beyond the necessity. 
He could make this Scriptural appointment of ministers 
and ordinances, without renouncing communion with the 
national Church, and therefore he did not renounce it. In 
these views Charles Wesley, too, who was at every one of 
the early conferences, concurred with him: and if he 
thought somewhat differently on these points afterward, it 
was Charles who departed from first principles, not John. 
So much for the accuracy of Dr. Whitehead, who con- 
structed his Life of the two brothers upon just the opposite 
opinion! 

The discipline which Mr. Wesley maintained in the 

that and other branches of the pastoral office. In his sketch of the origin 
of church government in that extract, he clearly had in view the con- 
formity between what had taken place in his own case, and that which 
must, in a great number of instances, have occurred in the earliest periods 
of Christianity; and while he evidently refers to himself as the father 
and bishop of the whole of the societies, he tacitly compares his "assist- 
ants" to the ancient "presbyters," and his "helpers" to the ancient 
"deacons." In point of fact, so fully did he consider himself, even in 
1747 — whether consistently or not, as a Churchman, let others determine, 
I speak only to the fact — as setting apart or ordaining to the ministry, 
that he appears to have had thoughts of adding imposition of hands to his 
usual mode of ordination, which was preceded by fasting and private 
prayer, and consisted of public examination, prayer, and appointment; 
and he only declines this for prudential reasons. "Why," says he, "do 
we not use more form in receiving a new laborer? 1. Because there is 
something of stateliness in it, and we would be little and inconsiderable. 
2. Because we would not make haste: we desire barely to follow provi- 
dence as it gradually opens." (Minutes of 1747.) Even this form, there- 
fore, was regarded as what might in other circumstances be required. 
The bearing of these remarks upon some future ordinations of Mr. Wes- 
ley by imposition of hands, will be pointed out in its proper place.* 

[* Among the American Methodists, ordination, by imposition of hands, has been 
uniformly practiced, from the time of the organization of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the year 1784. Our forms of ordination were prepared by Mr. Wesley 
himself, and are substantially the same as those used in the Church of England, 
and the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country. — American Edit.] 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



167 



societies, was lenient and long-suffering; but where there 
was an evil at the root, he had an unsparing hand. In 
March, 1746, he came to Nottingham, and observes, "I 
had long doubted what it was which hindered the work of 
God here. But upon inquiry the case was plain. So many 
of the society were either trhiers, or disorderly walkers, 
that the blessing of God could not rest upon them. So I 
made short, work by cutting off all such at a stroke, and 
leaving only that little handful, who, as far as could be 
judged, were really in earnest to save their souls. " 

At Wednesbury and Birmingham he found that some 
Antinomian teachers, the offspring of that seed which be- 
fore the recent revival of religion had been sown in various 
parts of the country, and who, in that concern about spirit- 
ual things which now prevailed, began more zealously to 
bestir themselves to mislead and destroy the souls of men, 
under pretense of preaching a purer Gospel, had troubled 
the societies. By personal conversation with some of these 
teachers, in the presence of the people, he drew out the 
odious extent to which they carried their notions of (i Chris- 
tian liberty and thus took an effectual method of ex- 
posing and confuting the deadly error. 

Upon his return to London, it appeared that certain 
pretended prophets had appeared in the metropolis, and 
had excited the attention of many. He gratified his curi- 
osity by going to visit one of them, and with good-humored 
sarcasm observes, that as "he aimed at talking Latin, and 
could not, he plainly showed that he did not understand 
his own calling." Sober Scotland has in our own day 
exhibited a similar fanaticism; and the gift of tongues, 
pretended by some persons there, appears to have proved 
quite as unsatisfactory an evidence of a divine commission, 
as in this case. In visiting Newgate he found a penitent 
and hopeful malefactor; and his journal affords a specimen 
)f that originality of remark, which peculiar cases, often 



168 THE LIFE OF 

perplexing to others, called forth from him. "A real, 
deep work ot God seemed to be already begun in his soul. 
Perhaps by driving him too fast, Satan has driven him to 
God — to that repentance which shall never be repented 
of." When he subsequently visited Dr. Dodd under con- 
demnation, he is reported to have replied to his apologies 
for receiving him in the condemned cell, " Courage, brother, 
perhaps God saw that nothing else would do." 

Bristol, Wales, Devonshire, and Cornwall, occupied 
Mr. Wesley's attention during the summer of 1746, and 
London, Bristol, and the places adjacent for the remainder 
of the year. About this time, also, he received various 
letters from the army abroad, giving an account of the 
progress of religion among the soldiers, and of the brave 
demeanor in battle of many of their Methodist comrades. 
These accounts appear to have given him great satisfac- 
tion, as showing the power of religion in new circum- 
stances, and as affording him an answer to his enemies, 
who asserted that his doctrines had the effect of making 
men dastardly, negligent of duty, and disloyal. In the 
early part of the year 1747, we find him braving the snows 
of February in Lincolnshire; and in March he reached 
Newcastle, to supply the absence of his brother from that 
important station. 

Among other excellences possessed by this great man, 
he was fond of smoothing the path of knowledge, to the 
diffusion of which he devoted much attention, and for 
which end he published many compendiums and brief 
treatises on its most important branches. In this respect, 
also, he was foremost to tread in a path which has been 
of late years vigorously pursued, and must be reckoned as 
one of the leaders of that class of wise and benevolent 
men, who have exerted themselves to extend the benefits 
of useful information from the privileged orders of society, 
into the middle and lower classes. "This week," says he, 



REV. JOHN LESLEY. 



169 



"I read over, with some young men, a Compendium of 
Rhetoric, and a System of Ethics. I see not why a man 
of tolerable understanding may not in six months' time, 
learn more of solid philosophy than is commonly learned 
at Oxford in four — perhaps seven — years." 

On his return from his labors in the north of England, 
he called at Manchester, which he had formerly several 
times visited in order to take counsel with his college 
friend Clayton, and Dr. Byrom, and had preached in the 
churches. He was now seen there in a new character. 
The small house which was occupied by the society could 
not contain a tenth part of the people, and he therefore 
walked to Salford Cross. "A. numberless crowd of people 
partly ran before, partly followed after me. I thought it 
best not to sing, but looking round, asked abruptly, 'Why 
do you look as if you had never seen me before? Many 
of you have seen me in the neighboring church, both 
preaching and administering the sacrament.' I then gave 
out the text, Seek ye the Lord vjhile he may he found; call 
upon him while he is near. Xone interrupted at all, or 
made any disturbance, till, as I was drawing to a conclu- 
sion, a big man thrust in, with three or four more, and 
bade them bring out the engine. Our friends desired me 
to remove into a yard just by, which I did, and concluded 
in peace." 

From the north he proceeded through Nottingham and 
Staffordshire to London, and from thence to the west of 
England. The influence which his calm courage often 
gave him over mobs was remarkably shown on this jour- 
ney. "Within two miles of Plymouth, one overtook and 
informed us that the night before all the dock was in an 
uproar; and that a constable, endeavoring to keep the 
peace, was beaten and much hurt. As we were entering 
the dock, one met us and desired we would go the back 
way; 'for/ said he, 'there are thousands of people waiting 

15 



170 



THE LIFE OF 



about Mr. Hyde's door.' We rode up straight into the 
midst of them. They saluted us with three hurras; after 
■which I alighted, took several of them by the hand, and 
began to talk with them. I would gladly have passed an 
hour amono- them, and believe if I had, there had been an 
end of the riot; but the day being far spent — for it was 
past nine o'clock — I was persuaded to go in. The mob 
then recovered their spirits, and fought valiantly with the 
doors and windows. But about ten they were weary, and 
went every man to his own home. The next day 1 
preached at four, and then spoke severally to a part of the 
society. About six in the evening I went to the place 
where I preached the last year. A little before we had 
ended the hymn came a lieutenant, a famous man, with his 
retinue of soldiers, drummers, and mob. When the drums 
ceased, a gentleman-barber began to speak; but his voice 
was quickly drowned in the shouts of the multitude, who 
grew fiercer and fiercer as their numbers increased. After 
waiting about a quarter of an hour, perceiving the violence 
of the rabble still increasing, I walked down into the thick- 
est of them, and took the captain of the mob by the hand. 
He immediately said, 'Sir, I will see you safe home. Sir, 
no man shall touch you. Gentlemen, stand off. Give 
back. I will knock the first man down that touches him.' 
We walked on in great peace; my conductor every now 
and then stretching out his neck — he was a very tall man — 
and looking round, to see if any behaved rudely, till we 
came to Mr. Hyde's door. We then parted in much love. 
I staid in the street near half an hour after he was gone, 
talking with the people, who had now forgot their anger, 
and went away in high good-humor." 

In Cornwall we have a specimen of his prompt and 
faithful habits of discipline. 

"Wednesday, 8th, I preached at St. Ives, then at Sith- 
ney. On Thursday the stewards of all the societies met. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



171 



I now diligently inquired, what extorters there were in 
each society? Whether they had gifts meet for the work? 
Whether their lives were eminently holy? And whether 
there appeared any fruit of their, labor? I found upon the 
whole, 1. That there were no fewer than eighteen extort- 
ers in the county. 2. That three of these had no gifts at 
all for the work, neither natural nor supernatural. 3. That 
a fourth had neither gifts nor grace, but was a dull, empty, 
self-conceited man. 4. That a fifth had considerable gifts, 
but had evidently made shipwreck of the grace of God. 
These, therefore, I determined immediately to set aside, 
and advise our societies not to hear them. 5. That J. B., 
A. L., and J. W., had gifts and grace, and had been much 
blessed in the work. Lastly. That the rest might be help- 
ful when there was no preacher, in their own or the neigh- 
boring societies, provided they would take no step without 
the advice of those who had more experience than them- 
selves. " 

In August he visited Ireland for the first time. Method- 
ism had been introduced into Dublin by Mr. Williams, one 
of the preachers, whose ministry had been attended with 
great success, so that a considerable society had been al- 
ready formed. Mr. Wesley was allowed to preach once 
at St. Marv's, "to as o-av and senseless a cono-reo-ation," 
he observes, "as I ever saw/' This was not, however, 
permitted a second time; and he occupied the spacious 
yard of the meeting-house, both in the mornings and even- 
ings, preaching to large congregations of both poor and 
rich. Among his hearers he had also the ministers of va- 
rious denominations. The state of the Catholics excited 
his peculiar sympathy; and as he could have little access 
to them by preaching, he published an address specially 
for their use. In his journal he makes a remark on the 
religious neglect of this class of our fellow-subjects by 
Protestants, which contains a reproof, the force of which 



172 



THE LIFE OF 



has, unhappily, extended to our own times: "Nor is it any 
wonder, that those who are born Papists, generally live 
and die such; when the Protestants can find no better 
ways to convert them, than penal laws and acts of Parlia- 
ment/ ? The chief perplexities which Ireland has occa- 
sioned to the empire are to be traced to this neglect; and 
the dangers which have often sprung up to the state from 
that quarter have been, and continue to be, its appropriate 
punishment, Mr. Wesley's visit, at this time, to Ireland 
was short; but he requested his brother to succeed him. 
Mr. Charles Wesley, therefore, accompanied by another 
preacher, Mr. Charles Perronet, one of the sons of the 
venerable vicar of Shoreham, arrived there in September. 
A persecution had broken out against the infant society in 
Dublin, and "the first news," says Mr. Charles Wesley, 
"we heard was, that the little flock stood fast in the storm 
of persecution, which arose as soon as my brother left 
them. The Popish mob broke open their room, and de- 
stroyed all before them. Some of them are sent to New- 
gate, others bailed. What will be the event we know not, 
till we see whether the grand jury will find the bill." He 
afterward states that the grand jury threw out the bill, 
and thus gave up the Methodists to the fury of a licentious 
mob. "God has called me to suffer affliction with his 
people. I began my ministry with, ' Comfort ye, comfort 
ye my people/ etc. I met the society, and the Lord knit 
our hearts together in love stronger than death. We both 
wept and rejoiced for the consolation. God hath sent me, 
I trust, to confirm these souls, and to keep them together 
in the present distress." (Whitehead's Life.) 

Mr. Charles Wesley spent the winter in Dublin, being 
daily employed in preaching and visiting the people. In 
February he made an excursion into the country, where a 
few preachers were already laboring, and, in some places, 
with great success. Thus was the first active and systematic 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



173 



agency for the conversion of the neglected people of 
Ireland commenced by the Methodists; and, till of late 
years, it is greatly to be regretted that they were left to 
labor almost alone. From that time, however, not only 
was the spirit of religion revived in many Protestant parts 
of the country, and many Papists converted to the truth, 
but the itinerant plan, which was there adopted as in Eng- 
land, enabled the preachers to visit a great number of 
places where the Protestants were so few in numbers as 
not to be able to keep up regular worship, or to make head, 
when left to themselves, against Popish influence. A bar- 
rier was thus erected against the farther encroachments of 
Popery; and the light was kept burning in districts where 
it would otherwise have been entirely extinguished. The 
influence of the Methodist societies would, however, have 
been much more extensive, had not the large emigrations 
which have been almost constantly setting in from Ireland 
to America, borne away a greater number of their mem- 
bers in proportion than those of any other community. 
Mr. Charles Wesley spent part of the year 1748 in Ire- 
land, and preached in several of the chief towns, and es- 
pecially at Cork, with great unction and success. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The notices of the journeys and labors of these inde- 
fatigable ministers of Christ, given in the preceding chap- 
ter, afford but a specimen of the manner in which the foun- 
dations of the Methodist connection were carried out and 
firmly laid. Nor were the preachers under their direction, 
though laboring in more limited districts of country, 
scarcely less laboriously employed. At this period one of 
f hem writes from Lancashire to Mr. Wesley: "Many doors 

15* 



174 



THE LIFE OF 



are opened for preaching in these parts, but can not be 
supplied for want of preachers. I think some one should 
be sent to assist me, otherwise we shall lose ground. My 
circuit requires me to travel one hundred and fifty miles 
in two weeks; during which time I preach publicly thirty- 
four times, beside meeting the societies, visiting the sick, 
and transacting other affairs. " (Whitehead's Life.) 

Of the preachers some were engaged in business, and 
preached at their leisure in their own neighborhoods; but 
still, zealous for the salvation of men, they often took con- 
siderable journeys. Others gave themselves up, for a time, 
to more extended labors, and then settled: but the third 
class, who had become the regular " assistants" and "help- 
ers" of Mr. Wesley, were devoted wholly to the work of the 
ministry; and, after a period of probation, and a scrutiny 
into their character and talents at the annual conferences, 
were admitted, by solemn prayer, into what was called 
"full connection," which, as we have stated, was their 
ordination. No provision was, however, made at this early 
period for their maintenance. They took neither "purse 
nor scrip;" they cast themselves upon the providence of 
God, and the hospitality and kindness of the societies, and 
were by them, like the primitive preachers, "helped for- 
ward after a godly sort,"* on their journeys, to open 
new places, and to instruct those for whose souls "no man 
cared." It might be as truly said of them as of the first 
propagators of Christianity, they had "no certain dwell- 
ing-place." Under the severity of labor, and the wretched 
accommodations to which they cheerfully submitted, many 
a fine constitution was broken, and premature death was 
often induced. 

The annual conferences have been mentioned; and that 

*The want of a provision for their wives and families, in the early pe- 
riods of Methodism, caused the loss of many eminent preachers, who 
Tfrere obliged to settle in independent congregations. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



175 



a correct view may be taken of the doctrines which at those 
meetings it was agreed should be taught in the societies, it 
will be necessary to go back to their commencement. At 
first every doctrine was fully sifted in successive " Conver- 
sations, " and the great principles of a godly discipline 
were drawn out into special regulations, as circumstances 
appeared to require. After the body had acquired greater 
maturity, these doctrinal discussions became less frequent; 
a standard and a test being ultimately established in a 
select number of Mr. Wesley's doctrinal sermons, and in 
his "Notes on the New Testament." The free and pious 
spirit in which these inquiries were entered into was strik- 
ingly marked at the first conferences, in the commencing 
exhortation: "Let us all pray for a willingness to receive 
light, to know of every doctrine whether it be of God." 
The widest principle of Christian liberty was also laid 
down, as suited to the infant state of a society which was 
but just beginning to take its ground, and to assume the 
appearance of order. 

"Q. 3. How far does each of us agree to submit to the 
judgment of the majority? 

"A. In speculative things, each can only submit so far 
as his judgment shall be convinced; in every practical 
point, each will submit so far as he can, without wounding 
his conscience. 

"Q. 4. Can a Christian submit any farther than this to 
any man, or number of men, upon earth? 

"A. It is plain he can not; either to bishop, convocation, 
or general council. And this is that grand principle of 
private judgment on which all the Reformers at home and 
abroad proceeded: 'Every man must judge for himself; 
because every man must give an account of himself to 
God/ " (Minutes.) 

Never, it may be affirmed, was the formation of any 
Christian society marked by the recognition of principles 



176 



THE LIFE OF 



more liberal, or more fully in the spirit of the New Testa- 
ment. 

To some of the doctrinal conversations of the first con- 
ferences it is necessary to refer, in order to mark those 
peculiarities of opinion which distinguish the Wesleyan 
Methodists. It is, however, proper to observe that the 
clergymen and others who thus assembled did not meet 
to draw up formal articles of faith. They admitted those 
of the Church of England; and their principal object was 
to ascertain how several of the doctrines relative to experi- 
mental Christianity, which they found stated in substance 
in those articles, and farther illustrated in the Homi- 
lies, were to be understood and explained. This light 
they sought from mutual discussion, in which every 
thing was brought to the standard of the word of inspired 
truth. 

Their first subject was justification, which they describe 
with great simplicity; not loading it with epithets, as in the 
systematic schools, nor perplexing it by verbal criticism. 
It is defined to be "pardon," or "reception into God's fa- 
vor;" a view which is amply supported by several explicit 
passages of Scripture, in which the terms "pardon/' "for- 
giveness," and "remission of sins," are used convertibly 
with the term "justification." To be "received into God's 
favor," according to these Minutes, is necessarily connected 
with the act of forgiveness, and is the immediate and in- 
separable consequence of that gracious procedure. The 
same may be said of adoption; which, in some theological 
schemes, is made to flow from regeneration, while the lat- 
ter is held to commence previously to justification. In 
Mr. Wesley's views adoption, as being a relative change, 
is supposed to be necessarily involved in justification, or 
the pardon of sin; and regeneration to flow from both, as 
an inward, moral change arising from the powerful and 
efficacious work of the Holy Spirit who is in that moment 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



177 



given to believers.* To their definition of justification, the 
Minutes add, "It is such a state that, if we continue 
therein, we shall be finally saved;' ' thus making final 
salvation conditional, and justification a state which may 
be forfeited. All willful sin was held to imply a casting 
away of vital faith, and thereby to bring a man under 
wrath and condemnation; "nor is it possible for him to 
have justifying faith again without previously repenting.' ' 
They also agree that faith is "the condition of justifica- 
tion;" adding, as the proof, "for every one that believeth 
not is condemned, and every one who believes is justified." 
In Mr. Wesley's sermon on justification by faith, the office 
of faith in justifying is thus more largely set forth: 

"Surely the difficulty of assenting to the proposition, 
that faith is the only condition of justification, must arise 
from not understanding it. We mean thereby thus much, 
that it is the only thing, without which no one is justified; 
the only thing that is immediately, indispensably, abso- 
lutely requisite in order to pardon. As on the one hand, 
though a man should have every thing else, without faith, 
yet he can not be justified, so on the other, though he be 
supposed to want every thing else, yet if he hath faith, he 
can not be justified. For suppose a sinner of any kind 
or degree, in a full sense of his total ungodliness, of his 
utter inability to think, speak, or do good, and his absolute 
meetness for hell fire; suppose, I say, this sinner, helpless 
and hopeless, casts himself wholly on the mercy of God 
in Christ — which indeed he can not do but by the grace 
of God— who can doubt but he is forgiven in that moment? 

* The connection of favor and adoption with pardon, arises from the 
very nature of that act. Pardon, or forgiveness, is release from the penal- 
ties and forfeitures incurred by transgression. Of those penalties, the 
loss of God's favor, and of filial relation to him, was among the most 
weighty. Pardon, therefore, in its nature, or at least in its natural conse- 
quences, implies a restoration to the blessings forfeited, for else the pen- 
alt'* would in part remain in force. 



178 



THE LIFE OF 



Who will affirm that any more is indispensably required, 
before that sinner can be justified? 

" And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it 
in his early childhood, in the strength of his years, or 
when he is old and hoary-headed, God justifieth that un- 
godly one; God, for the sake of his Son, pardoneth and 
absolveth him, who had in him, till then, no good thing. 
Repentance, indeed, God hath given him before; but that 
repentance was neither more nor less than a deep sense of 
the want of all good, and the presence of all evil. And 
whatever good he hath or doeth from that hour, when he 
first believes in God through Christ, faith does not find, 
but bring. This is the fruit of faith. First, the tree is 
good, and then the fruit is good also." 

Mr. Wesley's views of repentance in this passage will 
also be noted. Here, as at the first conference, he insists 
that repentance, which is conviction of sin, and works meet 
for repentance, go before justifying faith; but he held, with 
the Church of England, that all works, before justification, 
had "the nature of sin;" and that, as they had no root in 
the love of God, which can only arise from a persuasion 
of his being reconciled to us, they could not constitute a 
moral worthiness preparatory to pardon. That a true 
repentance springs from the grace of God is certain; but 
whatever fruits it may bring forth, it changes not man's 
relation to God. He is a sinner, and is justified as such; 
"for it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and 
under the notion of a sinner." God justifieth the ungodly, 
not the godly. (Sermons.) Repentance, according to his 
statement, is necessary to true faith; but faith alone is the 
direct and immediate instrument of pardon. 

Those views of faith — of that faith by which a man, 
thus penitent, comes to God through Christ — which are 
expressed in the Minutes of this first conference, deserve 
a more particular consideration. Here, as in defining jus- 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



179 



tification, the language of the schools, and of systematic, 
philosophizing divines, is laid aside, and a simple enun- 
ciation is made of the doctrine of the New Testament. 
" Faith in general is a divine, supernatural elenchos — evi- 
dence or conviction — of things not seen, that is, of past, 
future, or spiritual things. It is a spiritual sight of God, 
and the things of God." (Minutes.) 

In this description, faith is distinguished from mere 
belief, or an intellectual conviction which the consideration 
of the evidences of the truth of Scripture ma}" produce, 
and yet lead to no practical or saving consequence; and 
that there may be a sincere and undoubting belief of the 
truth, without producing any saving effect, is a point which 
our very consciousness may sufficiently assure us of; 
although, in order to support a particular theory on the 
subject of faith, this has sometimes been denied. Trust 
is constantly implied in the Scriptural account of accept- 
able and saving faith, and this is the sense in which it was 
evidently taken in the above definition; for its production 
in the heart is referred to supernatural agency, and it is 
made to result from, and to be essentially connected with, 
a demonstration of spiritual things — such a conviction, 
wrought by the teaching Spirit, as produces not merely a 
full 'persuasion but a full reliance. Six years before this 
time, Mr. Wesley, in a sermon before the university of 
Oxford, had more at large expressed the same views as to 
justifying faith: " Christian faith is not only an assent to 
the whole Gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the 
blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, 
and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atone- 
ment and our life, as given for us, and living in us. It is 
a sure confidence which a man hath in God that, through 
the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he recon- 
ciled to the favor of God; and, in consequence hereof, a 
closing with him, and cleaving to him, as our ' wisdom, 



180 



THE LIFE OF 



righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, or, m one 
word, our salvation." (Sermons.) 

It will however be remarked, that, in order to support 
his view of the nature of justifying faith by the authority 
of the Church of England, Mr. Wesley has quoted her 
words from the Homily on Salvation in the latter part of 
the above extract; and he thereby involved the subject in 
an obscurity which some time afterward he detected and 
acknowledged. The incorrectness of the wording of the 
homily is indeed very apparent although in substance it 
is sound and Scriptural. When that homily defines justi- 
fying faith to be "a sure trust and confidence which a 
man hath in God that his sins are forgiven, and he recon- 
ciled to the favor of God," it is clear that, by the founders 
of the English Church, saving faith was regarded not as 
mere belief, but as an act of trust and confidence subsequent 
to the discovery made to a man of his sin and danger, and 
the fear and penitential sorrow which are thereby produced. 
The object of that faith they make to be God, assuredly 
referring to God in the exercise of his mercy through the 
atonement and intercession of Christ; and the trust and 
confidence of which the homily speaks must be, therefore, 
taken to imply a distinct recognition of the merits of Christ, 
and a full reliance upon them. So far all is Scripturally 
correct, although not so fully expressed as could be de- 
sired. That from such a faith exercised in these circum- 
stances, a "confidence," taking the word in the sense of 
persuasion or assurance, that "a man's sins are forgiven, 
and he reconciled to the favor of God," certainly follows, 
is the doctrine of Scripture; and the authority of the 
homily may therefore also be quoted in favor of that view 
of assurance at which Churchmen have so often stumbled, 
and to which they have so often scornfully referred as the 
fanatical invention of modern sectaries. There is, how- 
ever, an error in the homily which lies not in its substance 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



181 



and general intent, but in this, that applies the same terms, 
" trust and confidence," both to God's mercy in Christ, 
which is its proper object, and to "the forgiveness of sins," 
which is the consequence of a sure trust and confidence in 
God as exercising mercy "through Christ/ ' because it is 
that in order to which the trust or confidence is exercised. 
It follows, therefore, that either there is an error in the 
latter part of the statement itself — justifying faith not being 
a confidence that sin is forgiven, which is absurd, because 
it is the condition previously required in order to the for- 
giveness of sin — or otherwise, which is probable, that the 
term " confidence, " in the mind of the writer of the hom- 
ily, was taken in a different sense when applied to God, 
the object of trust, and to the forgiveness of sin; and, 
when referred to the latter, meant that persuasion of the 
fact of being forgiven which must be attributed to a secret 
assurance of remission and acceptance by the spirit of 
adoption, and which ordinarily closely follows, or is imme- 
diately connected with, justifying faith, but which is not 
of its essence. But " confidence' ' in this sense implies 
filial confidence, the trust of a child, of one already passed 
into the family of God, and hence this is rather the de- 
scription of the habitual faith of a justified man than of 
the act by which a sinner is justified and adopted. * Mr. 
Wesley therefore soon perceived that the definition of jus- 
tifying faith in this homily needed some correction, and he 
thus expressed his views in 1747, in a letter to his brother: 
"Is justifying faith a sense of pardon? JSfegatur" It 
is denied. 

"By justifying faith I mean that faith which whosoever 
hath not, is under the wrath and the curse of God. By a 
sense of pardon I mean a distinct, explicit assurance that 
my sins are forgiven. 

"I allow, 1. That there is such an explicit assurance, 
2. That it is the common privilege of real Christians. 

16 



182 THE LIFE OF 

3. That it is the common Christian faith, which purifieth 
the hearty and overcometh the world." * * * * 

"But the assertion, that justifying faith is a sense of 
pardon, is contrary to reason: it is flatly absurd. For how 
can a sense of our having received pardon, be the condition 
of our receiving it? 

"But does not our Church give this account of justify- 
ing faith? I am sure she does of saving or Christian faith: 
I think she does of justifying faith too. But to the law 
and to the testimony. All men may err: but the word of 
the Lord shall stand forever." 

Mr. Wesley, however, still regarded that trust in the 
merits of Christ's death, in which justifying faith consists, 
as resulting from a supernatural conviction that Christ 
"loved me" as an individual, and "gave himself for me." 
In this he placed the proof that faith is "the gift of God," 
a work of the Holy Spirit, as being produced along with 
this conviction, or immediately following it. From this 
supernatural conviction, not only that God was in Christ 
"reconciling the world unto himself," but that he died 
"for my sins," there follows an entire committal of the case 
of the soul to the merits of the sacrifice of Christ, in an 
act of trust; in that moment, he held, God pardons and 
absolves him that so believes or trusts, and that this, his 
pardon or justification, is then witnessed to him by the 
Holy Ghost. Nor can a clearer or simpler view of stating 
this great subject, in accordance with the Scriptures, be 
well conceived. The state of a penitent is one of various 
degrees of doubt, but all painful. He questions the love 
of God to him, from a deep sense of his sin, although he 
may allow thut he loves all the world beside. Before he 
can fully rely on Christ, and the promises of the Gospel, 
he must have hightened and more influential views of 
God's love in Christ, and of his own interest in it. It is 
the office of the Holy Spirit "to take of the things of 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



183 



Christ, and show them" to the humble mind. This office 
of the Spirit agrees with that h^tx°$ or "divine convic- 
tion/' of which Mr. Wesley speaks, and which shows, 
with the power of demonstrative evidence, the love of 
Christ to the individual himself in the intention of his 
sacrifice. From this results an entire and joyful acqui- 
escence with the appointed method of salvation, and a full 
reliance upon it, followed, according to the promise of 
Scripture, with actual forgiveness, and the cheering testi- 
mony of the Spirit of adoption. Of this faith he allowed 
different degrees, yet the lowest degree saving; and also 
different degrees of assurance, and therefore of joy. He 
was careful to avoid binding the work of the Spirit to one 
rule, and to distinguish between that peace which flows 
from a comfortable persuasion of "acceptance through 
Christ/' and those higher joys which may be produced by 
that more hightened assurance which God is pleased in 
many cases to impart. He taught that the essence of 
true justifying faith consists in the entire personal trust 
of the man of a penitent and broken spirit upon the 
merits of his Savior, as having died for him; and that tc 
all who so believe, faith is "imputed for righteousness," 
or, in other words, pardon was administered.* 

* That Mr. Wesley did not hold that assurance of personal pardon is 
of the essence of justifying faith is certain, from the remarks in his letter 
to his brother before quoted, in which he plainly states, that to believe 
that I am pardoned in order to pardon, is an absurdity and a contradic- 
tion. There will, however, appear some obscurity in a few other passages 
in his writings, unless we notice the sense in which he uses certain terms, 
a matter in which he never felt himself bound by the systematic phrase- 
ology of scholastic theologians. Thus there is an apparent discrepancy 
between the statement of his views as given abov£ and the following 
oassage in his sermon on the ' ; Scripture Way of Salvation:" 

" Taking the word in a more particular sense, faith is a Divine evidence 
and conviction, not only that 1 God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
nimself;' but also that Christ loved me, and gave himself for me. It is 
oy faith — whether we term it the essence or rather a property thereof — 
that we receive Christy that we receive him in all his offices, as Prophet, 



184 



THE LIFE OF 



The immediate fruits of justifying faith are stated in 
these Minutes to be " peace, joy, love; power over all 
outward sin, and power to keep down inward sin." 
Justifying faith, when lost, is not again attainable, except 
by repentance and praj T er; but "no believer need come 
again into a state of doubt, or fear, or darkness; and that— 
ordinarily at least — he will not, unless by ignorance or 
unfaithfulness." Assaults of doubt or fear are, however, 
admitted, even after great confidence and joy; and "occa- 
sional heaviness of spirit before large manifestations of 
the presence and favor of God." To these views of doc- 
trine may be added, that regeneration or the new birth is 
held to be concomitant with justification. "Good works 

Priest, and King-. It is by this that he is ' made of God unto us wisdom, 
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' 

441 But is this the faith of assurance, or the faith of adherence?' The 
Scripture mentions no such distinction. The apostle says, * There is one 
faith, and one hope of our calling,' one Christian, saving faith, *as there 
is one Lord,' in whom we believe, and ' one God and Father of us all.' 
And it is certain, this faith necessarily implies an assurance — which is here 
only another word for evidence, it being hard to tell the difference be- 
tween them — that Christ loved me, and gave himself for me. For 'he 
that believeth,' with the true living faith, 'hath the witness in himself:' 
'The Spirit witnesseth with his spirit, that he is a child of God.' 'Be- 
cause he is a son, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his heart, 
crying, Abba, Father;' giving him an assurance that he is so, and a cnild- 
like confidence in him. But let it be observed that, in the very nature of 
the thing, the assurance goes before the confidence. For a man can not 
have a childlike confidence in God till he know he is a child of God. 
Therefore, confidence, trust, reliance, adherence, or whatever else it be 
called, is not the first, as some have supposed, but the second branch or 
act of faith." 

Yet in fact the only difficulty arises from not attending to his mode of 
stating the case, and his use of the term assurance. When he says that 
faith includes both adherence and assurance, it is obvious that he does not 
mean by assurance, the assurance of personal acceptance, which he dis- 
tinctly, in the same, passage, ascribes to the direct testimony of the Spirit 
of God; but the assurance that Christ "died for m|," "for my sins," 
which special manifestation of God's love in Christ to me as an individual, 
producing an entire trust in the Divine sacrifice for sin, he attributes to a 
supernatural elenchos or conviction. This, however, he considers as a 
"conviction" in order to faith or trust; and then the act of personal and 
entire trust in this manifested love and goodness is succeeded by the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



185 



can not go before this faith; much less can sanctification, 
which implies a continued course of good works, springing 
from holiness of heart; but they follow after:" and the 
reason given for this is, that as salvation, which includes 
a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to 
its primitive health, the renewing of the soul after the 
image of God, all holy and heavenly tempers and conver- 
sation, is by faith, it can not precede faith, which is the 
appointed instrument of attaining it. To increase in all 
these branches of holiness, the exercise of faith in prayer, 
and the use of all the means appointed by God, are also 
necessary; a living faith being that which unites the soul 
to Christ, and secures the constant indwelling and influ- 
ence of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Such a faith must, 
therefore, necessarily lead to universal holiness of heart 

direct testimony of the Spirit of adoption, which he tells us gives a man 
"the assurance that he is a child of God, and a childlike confidence in 
him." And when he goes od so truly to state, that "in the very nature 
of the thing, the assurance goes before confidence," and that "confidence, 
trust, or reliance," is not the first but the second branch of faith, he evi- 
dently does not here mean that confidence and trust in the merit of 
Christ by which we are justified, but filial trust and confidence in God 
as our reconciled Father, which must necessarily be subsequent to the 
other. According to Mr. Wesley's views, the order of our passing into a 
state of justification and conscious reconcilement to God, is, 1. True re- 
pentance, which, however, gives us no worthiness, and establishes no 
claim upon pardon, although it so necessarily precedes justifying faith, 
that all trust even in the merits of Christ for salvation would be pre- 
sumptuous and unauthorized without repentance; since, as he says, 
* Christ is not even to be offered to the careless sinner." (Sermon on 
'the Law established through Faith.") 2. Supernatural elenchos, or 
assured conviction, that "Christ loved me, and gave himself for me," in 
the intention of his death; inciting to and producing full acquiescence 
with God's method of saving the guilty, and an entire personal trust in 
Christ's atonement for sin. Of this trust, actual justification is the result; 
but then follows, 3. The direct testimony of the Holy Spirit, giving 
assurance in different degrees, in different persons, and often in the 
same person, that I am a child of God; and, 4. Filial confidence in God. 
The elenchos, the trust, the Spirit's witness, and the filial confidence he 
..eld, w T ere frequently, but not always, so closely united as not to be dis- 
tinguished as to time, though each is, from its nature, successive and 
distinct- 

16* 



186 



THE LIFE OF 



and life, and stands -as an impregnable barrier against 
Pharisaism on the one hand, and the pollutions of Anti- 
nomianism on the other. 

On another doctrine, in defense of which Mr. Wesley 
afterward wrote much, these early Minutes of Conference 
contain perhaps the best epitome of his views, and may be 
somewhat at length quoted. 

"Q. 1. What is it to be sanctified? 

"A. To be renewed in the image of God, in righteous- 
ness and true holiness. 

"Q. 2. Is faith the condition, or the instrument, of 
sanctification? 

"A. It is both the condition and instrument of it. 
When we begin to believe, then sanctification begins. 
And as faith increases, holiness increases, till we are 
created anew. 

" Q. 3. What is implied in being a perfect Christian? 

"A. The loving the Lord our God with all our heart, 
and with all our mind, and soul, and strength, Deut. vi, 5; 
xxx, 6; Ezek. xxxvi, 25-29. 

"Q. 4. Does this imply that all inward sin is taken 
away? 

"A. Without doubt: or how could he be said to be 
saved 'from all hisuncleannesses?' Ezek. xxxvi, 29." 

And again: 

" Q. 1. How much is allowed by our brethren who differ 
from us, with regard to entire sanctification? 

"A. They grant, 1. That every one must bt entirely 
sanctified in the article of death. 

"2. That, till then, a believer daily grows in grace, 
comes nearer and nearer to perfection. 

"3. That we ought to be continually pressing after this, 
and to exhort all others so to do. 

"Q. 2. What do we allow to them? 

" A. We grant, 1, That many of those who have died 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



187 



in the faith, yea, the greater part of those we have} known, 
were not sanctified throughout, not made perfect in love, 
till a little before death. 

"2. That the term 'sanctified' is continually applied 
by St. Paul to all that were justified — were true belierers. 

' '3. That by this term alone, he rarely — if ever — ■ 
means, saved from all sin. 

"4. That, consequently, it is not proper to use it in 
this sense, without adding the word 'wholly, entirely/ or 
the like. 

"5. That the inspired writers almost continually speak 
of or to those who were justified; but very rarely either 
of or to those who were wholly sanctified. 

"6. That, consequently, it behooves us to speak in pub- 
lic almost continually of the state of justification; but 
more rarely, at least in full and explicit terms, concerning 
entire sanctification. 

"Q. 3. What then is the point wherein we divide? 

"A. It is this: whether we should expect to be saved 
from all sin, before the article of death. 

"Q. 4. Is there any clear Scripture promise of this? 
that God will save us from all sin? 

"A. There is: Psalm cxxx, 8, 'He shall redeem Israel 
from all his sins.' 

"This is more largely expressed in the prophecy of 
Ezekiel: 'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and 
you shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all 
your idols will I cleanse you. I will also save you from 
all your uncleannesses,' chap, xxxvi, 25, 29. jSo promise 
can be more clear. And to this the apostle plainly refers 
in that exhortation, ' Having these promises, let us cleanse 
ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting 
holiness in the fear of God,' 2 Cor. vii, 1. Equally clear 
and express is that ancient promise, 'The Lord thy God 
will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 



188 



THE LIFE OF 



love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul/ Deut. xxx, 6. 

" Q. 5. But does any assertion answerable to this, occur 
in the New Testament? 

"A. There does, and that laid down in the plainest 
terms. So St. John iii, 8, 'For this purpose the Son of 
God was manifested that he might destroy the works of 
the devil;' the works of the devil, without any limitation 
or restriction; but all sin is the work of the devil. Par- 
allel to which is that assertion of St. Paul, Eph. v, 25, 27, 
'Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it — that 
he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not 
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it 
should be holy and without blemish.' 

"And to the same effect is his assertion in the eighth 
of Romans, (verses 3, 4,) ' God sent his Son — that the 
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, walking 
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' 

"Q. 6. Does the New Testament afford any farther 
ground for expecting to be saved from all sin? 

"A. Undoubtedly it does, both in those prayers and 
commands which are equivalent to the strongest assertions. 

"Q. 7. What prayers do you mean? 

"A. Prayers for entire sanctification; which, were there 
no such thing, would be mere mockery of God. Such in 
particular are 1. 'Deliver us from evil;' or rather, 'from 
the evil one.' Now, when this is done, when we are 
delivered from all evil, there can be no sin remaining. 

2. 'Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which 
shall believe on me through their word; that they all may 
be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee; that they 
also may be one in us: I in them and thou in me. that 
they may be made perfect in one,' John xvii, 20, 21, 23. 

3. ' I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ— that he would grant you — that ye, being 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



189 



rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 
with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and hight. 
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, 
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God/ Eph. 
iii, 14, 16-19. 4. 'The very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit, soul, and 
body, be presented blameless, unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ,' 1 Thess. y, 23. 

"Q. 8. "What command is there to the same effect? 

"A. 1. 'Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in 
heaven is perfect/ Matt, v, 43. 

"2. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind/ Matt, 
xxii, 37. But if the love of God fill all the heart, there 
can be no sin there. 

"Q. 9. But how does it appear, that this is to be done 
before the article of death? 

"A. First, from the very nature of a command, which 
is not given to the dead, but to the living. 

"Therefore, 'Thou shalt love God with all thy heart/ 
can not mean, 'Thou shalt do this when thou diest, but 
while thou livest/ 

"Secondly, from express texts of Scripture: 

"1. 'The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath 
appeared to all men, teaching us, that having renounced 
[dpj^craa^ot] ungodliness and worldly lusts, w r e should 
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world: 
looking for — the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
us from all iniquity; and purify unto himself a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works/ Tit. ii, 11-14. 

"2. 'He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us — 
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers: the oath 
which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would 
grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands 



190 



THE LIFE OF 



of our enemies, should serve him without fear, in holiness 
and righteousness before him, all the days of our life/ 
Luke i, 69, etc. 

"Q. 16. Does not the harshly preaching perfection, tend 
to bring believers into a kind of bondage or slavish fear? 

"A. It does. Therefore we should always place it in 
the most amiable light, so that it may excite only hope, 
joy, and desire. 

"Q. 17. Why may we not continue in the joy of faith, 
even till we are made pe r fec f ? 

"A. Why indeed? since holy grief does not quench 
this joy: since, even while we are under the cross, while 
we deeply partake of the sufferings of Christ, Ave may re- 
joice with joy unspeakable. 

"Q. 18. Do we not discourage believers from rejoicing 
evermore? 

'i,A. We ought not so to do. Let them, all their life 
long, rejoice unto God, so it be with reverence. And even 
if lightness or pride should mix with their joy, let us not 
strike at the joy itself — this is the gift of' God — but at that 
lightness or pride that the evil may cease, and the good 
remain. 

"Q. 20. But ought we not to be troubled on account of 
the sinful nature which still remains in us? 

" A. It is good for us to have a deep sense of this, and 
lo be much ashamed before the Lord. But this should 
only incite us the more earnestly* to turn to Christ every 
moment, and to draw light, and life, and strength from 
him, that we may go on, conquering and to conquer. And 
therefore, when the sense of our sin most abounds, the 
sense of his love should much more abound." 

The doctrine of assurance, and the source of it, the tes- 
timony of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of adoption, are 
frequently referred to in these early doctrinal conversa- 
tions. This however is more fully stated in Mr. WesleyV 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



191 



sermons; and the following extracts will be necessary to 
present his views on this subject in their true light: 

"But what is the witness of the Spirit? The original 
word ^apfvpta may be rendered either — as it is in several 
places — the witness, or, less ambiguously, the testimony, or 
the record: so it is rendered in our translation, 1 John v, 
11, 'This is the record,' the testimony, the sum of what 
God testifies in all the inspired writings, 'that God hath 
given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.' The 
testimony now under consideration is given by the Spirit of 
God to and with our spirit. He is the person testifying. 
What he testifies to us is, 'that we are the children of 
God.' The immediate result of this testimony is, 'the 
fruit of the Spirit;' namely, 'love, joy, peace; long-suffer- 
ing, o-entleness, goodness.' And without these, the testi- 
mony itself can not continue; for it is inevitably destroyed, 
not only by the commission of any outward sin, ' or the 
omission of known duty, but by giving way to any inward 
sin: in a word, by whatever grieves the Holy Spirit of 
God. 

"2. I observed many years ago, It is hard to find words 
in the language of men to explain the deep things of God. 
Indeed, there are none that will adequately express what 
the Spirit of God works in his children. But, perhaps, 
one might say — desiring any who are taught of God to 
correct, soften, or strengthen the expression — By the 'tes- 
timony of the Spirit' I mean, an inward impression on the 
soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately and directly 
witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God; that 'Jesus 
Christ hath loved me, and given himself for me;' that all 
my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to 
God. 

"3. After twenty years' farther consideration, I see no 
cause to retract any part of this. Neither do I conceive 
how any of these expressions may be altered, so as to 



192 



THE LIFE OF 



make lliem more intelligible. I can only add, that if any 
of the children of God will point out any other expressions 
which are more clear, or more agreeable to the word of 
God, I will readily lay these aside. 

" 4. Meantime, let it be observed, I do not mean hereby, 
that the Spirit of God testifies this by any outward voice: 
no, nor always by an inward voice, although he may do 
this sometimes. Neither do I suppose that he always 
applies to the heart — though he often may — one or more 
texts of Scripture. But he so works upon the soul by his 
immediate influence, and by a strong, though inexplicable 
operation, that the stormy wind and troubled waves sub- 
side, and there is a sweet calm: the heart resting as in the 
arms of Jesus, and the sinner being clearly satisfied that 
all his ' iniquities are forgiven, and his sins covered.' 

" 5. Now, what is the matter of dispute concerning this? 
Not, whether there be a witness or testimony of the Spirit. 
Not, whether the Spirit does testify with our spirit, that 
we are the children of God. None can deny this without 
flatly contradicting the Scriptures, and charging a lie upon 
the God of truth. Therefore, that there is a testimony of 
the Spirit, is acknowledged by all parties. 

" 6. Neither is it questioned, whether there is an indirect 
witness or testimony that we are the children of God. 
This is nearly, if not exactly, the same with 'the testimony 
of a good conscience toward God,' and is the result of 
reason or reflection on what we feel in our own souls. 
Strictly speaking, it is a conclusion drawn partly from the 
word of God and partly from our own experience. The 
word of God says, Every one who has the fruit of the Spirit 
is a child of God. Experience or inward consciousness 
tells me that I have the fruit of the Spirit; and hence I 
rationally conclude, therefore, I am a child of God. This 
is likewise allowed on all hands, and so is no matter of con- 
troversy. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



19S 



"7. Nor do we assert, that there can be any real testi- 
mony of the Spirit, without the fruit of the Spirit. We 
assert, on the contrary, that the fruit of the Spirit imme- 
diately springs from this testimony; not always, indeed, in 
the same degree, even when the testimony is first given; 
and much less afterward: neither joy nor peace is always 
at one stay. No, nor love: as neither is the testimony 
itself always equally strong and clear. 

"8. But the point in question is, whether there be any 
direct testimony of the Spirit at all; whether there be any 
other testimony of the Spirit than that which arises from 
a consciousness of the fruit. 

" 1. I believe there is, because that is the plain, natural 
meaning of the text, ' the Spirit itself beareth witness with 
our spirit, that we are the children of God/ It is mani- 
fest here are two witnesses mentioned, who together testify 
the same thing, the Spirit of God and our own spirit. The 
late bishop of London, in his sermon on this text, seems 
astonished that any one can doubt of this, which appears 
upon the very face of the words. Now, 'the testimony of 
our own spirit,' says the bishop, 'is one, which is the con- 
sciousness of our own sincerity;' or, to express the same 
thing a little more clearlv, the consciousness of the fruit of 
the Spirit. When our spirit is conscious of this, of love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, it easily 
infers, from these premises, that we are the children of 
God. 

"2. It is true, that great man supposes the other wit- 
ness to be 'the consciousness of our own good works.' 
This, he affirms, is 'the testimony of God's Spirit/ But 
this is included in the testimony of our own spirit: yea, 
and in sincerity, even according to the common sense of 
the word. So the apostle, 'Our rejoicing is this, the testi- 
mony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin- 
cerity we have our conversation in the world:' where it is 

17 



194 



THE LIFE OF 



plain sincerity refers to our words and actions, at least as 
much as to our inward dispositions. So that this is not 
another witness, but the very same that he mentioned 
before: the consciousness of our good works being only 
one branch of the consciousness of our sincerity. Conse- 
quently, here is only one witness still. If, therefore, the 
text speaks of two witnesses, one of these is not the con- 
sciousness of our good works, neither of our sincerity: all 
this being manifestly contained in 'the testimony of oui 
spirit.' 

"3. "What, then, is the other witness? This might 
easily be learned, if the text itself were not sufficiently 
clear, from the verse immediately preceding. 'Ye have 
received, not the spirit of bondage, but the Spirit of adop- 
tion, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.' It follows, 'The 
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are 
the children of God.' 

"4. This is farther explained by the parallel text, Gal. 
iv, 6: 'Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, lather.' Is 
not this something immediate and direct, not the result of 
reflection or argumentation? Does not this Spirit cry, 
'Abba, Father,' in our hearts, the moment it is given, ante- 
cedently to any reflection upon our sincerity, yea, to any 
reasoning whatsoever? And is not this the plain, natural 
sense of the words, which strikes any one as- soon as he 
hears them? All these texts, then, in their most obvious 
meaning, describe a direct testimony of the Spirit. 

" 5. That the testimony of the Spirit of God must, in the 
very nature of things, be antecedent to the testimony of our 
oivn spirit, may appear from this single consideration. 
We must be holy in heart and life, before we can be con- 
scious that we ?<,re so. But we must love God before we 
can be holy at all, this being the root of all holiness. 
"Now, we can not love God, till we know he loves us: 'we 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



195 



love him because he first loved us.' And we can not know 
his love to us, till his Spirit witnesses it to our spirit. 
Since, therefore, the testimony of his Spirit must precede 
the love of God and all holiness, of consequence it must 
precede our consciousness thereof." 

A doctrine so often misrepresented and misunderstood 
could not be so properly stated as in Mr. Wesley's own 
words; and as many, and those even professing to be sober 
Christians, have, principally with reference to this doc- 
trine, frequently opened upon this venerable man the full 
cry of enthusiasm and fanatical delusion, it may be proper 
to add a few explanatory and defensive remarks, and that 
not merely for the sake of justice to his opinions, but in 
support of a great doctrine of revelation, most intimately 
connected with the hope and comfort of man. 

And, 1 . The doctrine of assurance as held by the founder 
of Methodism was not the* assurance of eternal salvation, 
as held by the Calvinistic divines, but that persuasion 
which is given by the Holy Spirit to penitent and believing 
persons, that they are ( noio accepted of God, pardoned, 
and adopted into God's family. " It was an assurance, 
therefore, on the ground of which no relaxation of religious 
effort could be pleaded, and no unwatchfulness of spirit or 
irregularity of life allowed: for he taught, that only by the 
lively exercise of the same humble and obedient faith in 
the merits and intercession of Christ, this state of mind 
could be maintained, and it was made by him a motive — 
influential as our desire of inward peace can be influen- 
tial — to vigilance and obedience. 

2. This doctrine can not be denied without disconnecting 
religion from peace of mind, and habitual consolation. 
For if it is the doctrine of the inspired records, and of all 
orthodox Churches, that man is by nature prone to evil, 
and that in practice he violates that law under which, 
as a creature, he is placed, and is thereby exposed to 



196 



THE LIFE OF 



punishment; if also it is there stated, that an act of grace 
and pardon is promised on the conditions of repentance 
toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; if that 
repentance implies consideration of our ways, a sense of 
the displeasure of almighty God, contrition of heart, and 
consequently trouble and grief of mind, mixed, however^ 
with hope, inspired by the promise of forgiveness, and 
which leads to earnest supplication for the actual pardon 
of sin so promised, it will follow from these premises, either 
that forgiveness is not to be expected till after the termina- 
tion of our course of probation, that is, in another life; and 
that, therefore, this trouble and apprehension of mind can 
only be assuaged by the hope we may have of a favorable 
final decision on our case; or, that sin is, in the present 
life, forgiven as often as it is thus repented of, and as often 
as we exercise the required and specific acts of trust in the 
merits of our Savior; but that this forgiveness of our sins 
is not in any way made known to us: so that we are left, 
as to our feelings, in precisely the same state as if sin were 
not forgiven till after death, namely, in grief and trouble 
of mind, relieved only by hope; or, that when sin is for- 
given by the mercy of God through Christ, we are, by 
some means, assured of it, and peace and satisfaction of 
mind take the place of anxiety and fear. 

The first of these conclusions is sufficiently disproved 
by the authority of Scripture, which exhibits justification 
as a blessing attainable in this life, and represents it as 
actually experienced by true believers. " Therefore, being 
justified by faith, etc. . . There is now no condemna- 
tion to them who are in Christ Jesus. . . Whosoever 
believeth is justified from all things," etc. The quotations 
might be multiplied, but these are decisive. The notion, 
that though an act of forgiveness may take place, we are 
unable to ascertain a fact so important to us, is also irrec- 
oncilable with many texts in which the writers of thf* 



REV. JOHN WESLEF. 



New Testament speak of an experience, not confined per- 
sonally to themselves, or to those Christians who were 
endowed with spiritual gifts, but common to all Christians. 
" Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. 
We joy in God, by whom we have received the reconcilia- 
tion. . . Being reconciled unto God by the death of 
his Son. . . We have not received the spirit of bond- 
age again unto fear, but the Spirit of adoption whereby 
we cry, Abba, Father.'' To these may be added innu- 
merable passages which express the comfort, the confi- 
dence, and the joy of Christians; their "friendship" with 
God; their "access" to him; their entire union and de- 
lightful intercourse with him; and their absolute confidence 
in the success of their prayers. All such passages are 
perfectly consistent with deep humility and self-difiidence; 
but they are irreconcilable with a state of hostility between 
the parties, and with an unascertained, and only hoped- 
for, restoration of friendship and favor. 

3. The services of the Church of which Mr. Wesley 
was a minister, may be pleaded also in support of his 
opinions on this subject. Those services, though, with 
propriety, as being designed for the use, not of true Chris- 
tians only, but of mixed congregations, they abound in 
acts of confession, and the expressions of spiritual grief, 
exhibit also this confidence and peace, as objects of earnest 
desire and hopeful anticipation, and as blessings attainable 
in the present life. We pray to be made "children by 
adoption and grace;" to be "relieved from the fear of 
punishment by the comfort of God's grace;" not to be 
"left comfortless, but that God, the King of glory, would 
send to us the Holy Ghost to comfort us;" and that by 
the same Spirit having a right judgment in all things, "we 
may evermore rejoice in his holy comfort." In the prayer 
directed to be used for one troubled in mind or in con- 
science, we have also the following impressive petitions: 

17* 



198 



THE LIFE OF 



" Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. 
Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure, but make 
him to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which 
thou hast broken may rejoice. Deliver him from the fear 
of the enemy, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon 
him, and give him peace." Now, unless it be contended, 
that by these petitions we are directed to seek what we 
can never find, and always to follow that which we can 
never overtake, the Church, in the spirit of the ISTew Tes- 
tament, assumes that the forgiveness of sins, and the relief 
of the sorrows of the penitent state, are attainable, with 
those consequent comforts and joys which can only arise 
from some assurance of mind, by whatever means and in 
whatever degree communicated, that we have a personal 
interest in the general promise, and that we are reconciled 
to God by the death of his Son. For since the general 
promise is made to many who will never be benefited by 
it, it can not of itself be the ground of a settled religious 
peace of mind. As it is a promise of blessings to be indi- 
vidually experienced, unless I can have personal experience 
of them, it holds up to hope what can never come into 
fruition.* 

* "Faith is not merely a speculative but a practical acknowledgment of 
Jesus as the Christ — an effort and motion of the mind toward God; when 
the sinner, convinced of sin, accepts with thankfulness the proffered terms 
of pardon, and in humble confidence applying- individually to himself the 
benefit of the general atonement, in the elevated language of a venerable 
father of the Church, drinks of the stream which flows from the Re- 
deemer's side. The effect is, that in a little he is filled with that perfect 
love of God which casteth out fear — he cleaves to God with the entire 
affection of the soul. And from this active, lively faith, overcoming the 
world, subduing carnal self, all those good works do necessarily spring, 
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Bishop 
Horsley's Sermons.) 

"The purchase, therefore, was paid at once, yet must be severally 
reckoned to every soul whom it shall benefit. If we have not a hand to 
take what Christ's hand doth either hold or offer, what is sufficient in him 
can not be effectual to us. The spiritual hand, whereby we apprehend 
4he sweet offer of our Savior, is faith, which, in short, is no other than an 
affiance in the Mediator. Receive peace and be happy: believe, and 



REV. JOHN WESLEi. 



199 



An assurance, therefore, that those sins which were felt 
to "be a burden intolerable" are forgiven, and that all 
ground of that apprehension of future punishment which 
causes the penitent to il hev:ail his manifold sins" is re- 
moved by restoration to the favor of the offended God, 
must be allowed, or nothing would be more incongruous 
and indeed impossible, than the comfort, the peace, the 
rejoicing of spirit, which, in the Scriptures, are attributed 
to believers. If, indeed, self-condemnation, and the appre- 
hension of danger, had no foundation but in the imagina- 
tion, the case would be totally altered. Where there is 
no danger, delverance is visionary; and the joy it inspires 
is raving, and not reason. But if a real danger exists, 
and if we can not escape it except by an act of grace on 
the part of almighty God, we must have some evidence of 
his gracious interposition in our case, or the guilty gloom 
will abide upon us. The more sincere and earnest a per- 
son is in the affairs of his salvation, the more miserable 
he must become if there be no possibility of his knowing 
that the wrath of God no longer abideth upon him: then 
the ways of wisdom would be no longer "ways of pleasant- 
ness, and paths of peace." 

4. Few real Christians, therefore, have ever denied the 
possibility of our becoming so persuaded of the favor and 
good-will of God toward us as to produce substantial com- 
fort to the mind; but they have differed in opinion as to 
the means by which this is acquired. Some have said that 

thou hast received. Thus it is that we have an interest in all that God 
hath promised, or Christ hath performed. Thus have we from God both 
forgiveness and love, the ground of all whether peace or glory." (Bishop 
Hall's Heaven upon Earth.) 

" It is the property of saving faith, that it hath a force to appropriate, 
and make Christ our own. Without this, a general remote belief would 
have been cold comfort. k He loved me. and gave himself for me,' saith 
St. Paul. What saith St. Chrysostom? ' Did Christ die only for St. Paul? 
No. Abn excludit, sed appropriate he excludes no others, but he will 
secure himself.'' (Bishop Brownrigg's Sermon on Easter Day.) 



200 



THE LIFE OF 



we obtain it by inference; otters, by the direct inward tes- 
timony of the Holy Spirit. The latter, as we have seen, 
was the opinion of Mr. Wesley; but he never failed to 
connect this doctrine with another, which, on the authority 
of St. Paul, he calls "the witness of our own spirit, . . 
the consciousness of having received, in and by the Spirit 
of adoption, the tempers mentioned in the word of God, as 
belonging to his adopted children — a consciousness that 
we are inwardly conformed, by the Spirit of God, to the 
image of his Son, and th it we walk before him in justice, 
mercy, and truth, doing the things which are pleasing in 
his sight." These two testimonies he never put asunder, 
although he assigned them distinct offices; and this can not 
be overlooked if justice be done to his opinions. In order 
to prevent presumption, he reminds his readers that the 
direct testimony of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to true 
repentance and faith; and on the other hand, to guard 
against delusion, he asks, ' \ How am I assured that I do 
not mistake the voice of the Spirit? Even by the testi- 
mony of my own spirit, 'by the answer of a good con- 
science toward God:' hereby you shall know that you are 
in no delusion, that you have not deceived your own soul. 
The immediate fruits of the Spirit ruling in the heart are 
love, joy, peace, bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, 
meekness, gentleness, long-suffering. And the outward 
fruits are the doing good to all men, and a uniform obedi- 
ence to all the commands of God." Where, then, is the 
enthusiasm of the doctrine as thus stated? An enthu- 
siastic doctrine is unsupported by the sacred records; but 
in confirmation of this we read, "The Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." 
Here the witnesses are the Spirit of God, and our own 
spirit; and the fact to which the testimony is given, is, 
that "we are the children of God. . . And because 
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



201 



your hearts, crying, Abba, Father!" To these passages 
may be added all those texts, which speak of the inward 
intercourse of the Spirit of God with believers; of his 
dwelling in them, and abiding with them as the source of 
comfort and peace; and which, therefore, imply the doc- 
trine. Xor can such passages be interpreted otherwise 
than as teaching the doctrine of assurance, conveyed im- 
mediately to the mind of true believers by the Holy Spirit, 
without allowing such principles of construction as would 
render the sense of Scripture uncertain, and unsettle the 
evidence of some of the most important doctrines of our 
religion. 

It is true that a more ''sober 7 ' and "less dangerous" 
method, as it has been called, of obtaining a comfortable 
assurance of our justification before God, has been insisted 
upon as equally consistent with the word of God; but, 
upon examination, it will be found delusive. This is what 
is termed a process of inference, and is thus explained. 
The question at issue is, "Am I a child of God?" The 
Scriptures declare that "as many as are led by the Spirit 
of God are the sons of God." I inquire, then, whether I 
have the Spirit of God; and, in order to determine this, I 
examine whether I have "the fruits of the Spirit." Now, 
"the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, gentleness, 
goodness, meekness, faith, temperance;" and having suffi- 
cient evidence of the existence of these fruits, I conclude 
that I have the Spirit of God, and am, therefore, a par- 
doned and accepted child of God. This is the statement. 
But, among these enumerated fruits of the Spirit, we find 
love, joy, and peace, as well as gentleness, goodness, meek- 
ness, fidelity, and temperance; and if it be said that no 
man has a right to assume that "he is so led by the Spirit 
of God," as to conclude that he is a child of God, who 
has only the affections of "peace and joy" to ground his 
confidence upon, we have as good a reason to affirm the 



202 



THE LIFE OF 



same thing, if he has "meekness and temperance/ 9 with- 
out "love, and peace, and joy;" the love, the peace, and 
the joy being as much fruits of the Spirit as the moral 
qualities also enumerated. 

But can "love," love to God as our Father — "peace," 
peace with God, as in a state of friendship with us — and 
"joy," "joy in God by whom we have received the recon- 
ciliation" — exist at all without a previous or concomitant 
assurance of the Divine forgiveness and favor? Surely 
nothing is so clear, that it is not possible to love God as a 
Father and a Friend, while he is still regarded as an of- 
fended Sovereign and a vengeful Judge; and that to feel a 
sense of his displeasure, and to be at "peace" with him, 
and to rejoice in him, are contradictions: and if so, the 
very ground of this inference, that we are in the Divine 
favor, and adopted into his family, is taken away. This 
whole inferential process proceeds upon dividing the undi- 
vided fruit of the Spirit, for which we have assuredly no 
authority; nor, indeed, have we any reason to conclude 
that we have that gentleness, that goodness, that meekness, 
etc., which the apostle describes, should the "love, joy, 
and peace," which he places among the leading fruits of 
the Spirit, be wanting. If, then, the whole undivided fruit 
of the Spirit be taken as the medium of ascertaining the 
fact of our forgiveness and adoption, and if it is even 
absurd to suppose that we can love God, while yet we feel 
him to be angry with us, and that we can rejoice and have 
peace, while the fearful apprehensions of the consequences 
of unremitted sin are not removed from our minds, then 
the only ground of our "love, joy, and peace" is pardon 
revealed and witnessed, directly and immediately, by the 
Spirit of adoption.* 

* The precedence of the direct witness of the Spirit of God to the 
indirect witness of our own, and the dependence of the latter upon the 
former, are very clearly stated by three divines of great authority; to 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



203 



The mind of Mr. Wesley was, also, too discriminating 
not to perceive, that, in the scheme of attaining assurance 
by inference from moral changes only, there was a total 
neglect of the offices explicitly ascribed to the Holy Spirit 
in the New Testament, and which on this scheme are un- 
necessary. These are clearly stated to be that of "bear- 
ing witness" with the spirits of believers, that they are 
the children of God; that of the Spirit of adoption, by 
which they call God Father in the special sense in which 
it is correlative to that sonship which we obtain only by a 
justifying faith in Christ; and that of a Comforter, prom- 
ised to the disciples to abide with them ''forever/' that 
their "joy might be full." 

whom I refer the rather, because many of their followers of the present 
day have become very obscure in their statements of this branch of Chris- 
tian experience: 

" St. Paul means that the Spirit of God gives such a testimony to us, 
that he being- our guide and teacher, our spirit concludes our adoption of 
God to be certain. For our own mind, of itself, independent of the pre- 
ceding testimony of the Spirit, [nisi pr 02 emit e Spiritus testimonio,'] could 
not produce this persuasion in us. For while the Snirit witnesses that we 
are the sons of God, he, at the same time, inspires this confidence into 
our minds, that we are bold to call God our Father." (Calvin on Romans 
viii, 16.) 

"Romans viii, 16, 'The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits 
that we are the sons of God:' the witness which our own spirits do give 
to our adoption is the work and effect of the Holy Spirit in us; if it were 
not, it would be false, and not confirmed by the testimony of the SpirL* 
himself, who is the Spirit of truth. 'And none knoweth the things of 
God but the Spirit of God,' 1 Cor. ii, 11. If he declare not our sonship 
in us, and to us, we can not know it. How doth he then bear witness 
to our spirits? What is the distinct testimony? It must be some such act 
of his that evidenceth itself to be from him, immediately, to them that are 
concerned in it, that is, those to whom it is given." (Dr. Owen on the 
Spirit, sect. 9.) 

"The Spirit of adoption doth not only excite us to call upon God as our 
Father, but it doth ascertain and assure us, as before, that we are his chil- 
dren. And this it doth not by any outward voice, as God the Father to 
Jesus Christ, nor by an angel, as to Daniel and the Virgin Mary, but by 
an inward and secret suggestion, whereby he raiseth our hearts to this 
persuasion, that God is our Father, and we are his children. This is not 
the testimony of the graces and operations of the Spirit, but of the Spirit 
itself." (Poole on Romans viii, 16.) 



204 



THE LIFE OF 



Enough has been said on this subject to show that Mr. 
Wesley, on this doctrine, was neither rash nor incon- 
siderate, much less enthusiastic. It is grounded on no 
forced, no fanciful interpretation of Scripture; and it main- 
tains, as of possible attainment, one of the most important 
and richest comforts of the human mind. It leaves no 
doubt as to a question which, while problematical, must, 
if we are earnest in seeking our salvation, be fatal to our 
peace; it supposes an intercourse between God and the 
minds of good men, which is, surely in the full and genu- 
ine spirit of the Christian religion, eminently called the 
" ministration of the Spirit;' ' and it is, as taught by him, 
vitally connected with sober, practical piety. That, like 
the doctrine of justification by faith alone, it is capable of 
abuse, is very true. Many have perverted both the one 
and the other. Faith with some has been made a dis- 
charge from duty; and with respect to the direct witness 
of the Spirit, fancy has, no doubt, been taken, in some in- 
stances, for reality. But this could never legitimately fol- 
low from the holy preaching of the founder of Methodism. 
His view of the doctrine is so opposed to license and real 
enthusiasm, to pride and self-sufficiency, that it can only 
be made to encourage them by so manifest a perversion, 
that it has never occurred except among those most igno- 
rant of his writings. He never encouraged any to expect 
this grace but the truly penitent, and he prescribed to 
them "fruits meet for repentance." He believed that 
justification was always accompanied by a renewal of the 
heart, and as constantly taught, that the comfort "of the 
Holy Ghost" could remain the portion only of the humble 
and spiritual, and was uniformly and exclusively connected 
with a sanctifying and obedient faith. He saw that the 
fruits of the Spirit were "love, joy, peace," as well as 
"gentleness, goodness, meekness, and faith;" but he also 
taught that all who were not living under the constant 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



205 



influence of the latter would fatally deceive themselves by 
any pretensions to the former. 

Such were the views of the first Methodists, on these 
important points, and such are the unchanged opinions of 
their successors to this day. They may be called peculiar- 
ities, because they differed in some respects from the same 
doctrines of justification, faith, assurance, and sanctifica- 
tion, when associated with various modifications of Calvin- 
ism; and although somewhat similar doctrines are found 
in many Arminian writers, yet in the theology of the Wes- 
leys they derive life and vigor from the stronger views of 
the grace of God which were taught them by their Mora- 
vian and Calvinistic brethren. 

No man more honestly sought truth than Mr. Wesley, 
and none more rigidly tried all systems by the law and the 
testimony. As to authority he was "a man of one book;" 
and whatever may be thought peculiar in his views, he 
drew from that source by the best application of his judg- 
ment.* He wanted not, however, authority of another 

* The following- beautiful and striking - passage, illustrative of the above 
remark, is from the preface to his sermons: 

"To candid, reasonable men, I am not afraid to la)' open what have 
been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought, I am a creature 
of a day, passing through life, as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit 
come from God, and returning to God: just hovering over the great gulf; 
till, a few moments hence, I am no more seen! I drop into an unchange- 
able eternity ! I want to know one thing, the way to heaven : how to land 
safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the 
way ; for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down 
in a book! O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of 
God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo 
uhius libri. [A man of one book.] Here then I am, far from the busy 
ways of men. I sit down alone! only God is here. In his presence, I 
read hl«j book: for this end, to find my way to heaven. Is there a doubt 
concerning the meaning of what I read? Does any thing appear dark 
and intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of lights. Lord, is it not 
thy word, 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God?' Thou 'givest 
liberally, and upbraidest not.' Thou hast said, 1 If any be willing to do 
thy will, he shall know.' I am willing to do: let me know thy will. 1 
then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, 'comparing 

18 



206 



THE LIFE OF 



kind for his leading opinions. On the article of justifica- 
tion he agreed with all the Reformed Churches; his notion 
of saving faith was substantially that of the divines of the 
best ages of the Reformation, and of still earlier times; 
nor was his doctrine of the direct witness of the Spirit to 
our adoption one as to which any exclusive peculiarity 
could be attributed to him, except that he more largely 
and zealously preached it l .han any other man in modern 
times. It was the doctrine of Luther, Calvin, Beza, 
Arminius, and others of equally eminent rank abroad 
and at home. We may add also that such prelates and 
divines as Hooper, Andrews, Hall, Hooker, Usher, Brown- 
rigg, Wake, Pearson, Barrow, Owen, and Poole, have 
expressed it in terms as explicit, and with equal deference 
to the testimony of the word of God. 

The minutes of the early conferences are not confined 
to doctrinal discussions; but we see in them the frame of 
the discipline of the body, growing up from year to year, 
and embodied in many copious directions and arrange- 
ments. The most important of these remain in force to 
this day, although some in a maturer state of the society 
have gone into disuse. This discipline need not particu- 
larly be specified, as being for the most part well known 
and established; but a few miscellaneous particulars may 
be selected from the minutes of several successive years, 
as being in some instances of great importance, and in 
others characteristic, and occasionally amusing. 

The duty of obeying bishops was considered at the very 
first conference of 1744; and the conclusion is, that this 
obedience extends only to things indifferent; a rather 
strict narrowing up of canonical obedience, at this early 

spiritual things with spiritual.' I meditate thereon, with all the attention 
and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remain. 
I consult those who are experienced in the things of God ; and then, the 
writings, whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, 
that I teach." 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



207 



period. The establishment of "a seminary for laborers'' 
was a subject of consideration at this conference also, but 
was postponed. The reasons why it was not afterward 
carried into effect appear to have been, the rapid spread 
of the work, and the consequent demand for additional 
preachers. Mr. Wesley also looked to Kingswood school 
as subsidiary to this design. In the mean time he en- 
joined the study of the Greek and Latin poets and his- 
torians, as well as the original Scriptures, upon the 
preachers; and a large course of theological and general 
reading. This shows his views of the subserviency of 
literature to usefulness in the ministry.* 

Iso preaching was to be continued where societies "were 
not raised up. It seems to have been a fixed maxim with 
the Wesleys, not to spend time in cultivating barren 
ground. No band ticket was to be given to the wearers 
of ruffles — a practice which, though then common, ac- 
corded not with their notions either of good taste or of 
the duty of economizing money in order to charity. 
Equal strictness was observed as to the dress of females. 
Simplex munditiis [plainness with neatness] was Mr. 
Wesley's classical rule; and the exclusive "ornament of 
a meek and quiet spirit/' his Scriptural one. All who 
married unbelievers were to be expelled from society. 
The people were required not only to stand during sing- 
ing, but while the text was read. This excellent cus- 
tom now continues only in Ireland. Dram-drinking and 

* As the subject of a seminary or college has been of late brought 
under discussion, it may be not uninteresting to those who have not access 
to the manuscript copies of the first minutes, extracts from which only are 
in print, to give the passages which relate to this subject from the com- 
plete minutes of 1744 and 1745. In the former year it is asked, "Can 
we have a seminary for laborers?" and the answer is, "If God spare us 
till another conference." The next year the subject was resumed, "Can 
we have a seminary for laborers yet?" Answer: "Not till God gives us 
a proper tutor." So that the institution was actually resolved upon, and 
delayed only by circumstances. 



208 THE LIFE OF 

pawnbroking were also sins of exclusion: so that, in fact, 
the Methodist societies were the first temperance societies. 
Reading was enjoined as a religious duty, and every 
preacher was bound to circulate every new book published 
or recommended by Mr. Wesley; so anxious was he to 
spread useful knowledge through society, and to improve 
at once the intellects and hearts of his people. The offi- 
cers of the society are said to be " clergymen, assistants, 
helpers, stewards, leaders of bands, leaders of classes, vis- 
itors of the sick, schoolmasters, and housekeepers." The 
last class will in the present day create a smile; but at that 
time their business was to reside in the houses built in 
several of the large towns, where both Mr. Wesley and the 
preachers took up their abode during their stay. They 
were elderly and pious women, who, being onee invested 
with an official character, extended it sometimes from the 
house to the church, to the occasional annoyance of the 
preachers. As married preachers began to occupy the 
houses, they were at length dispensed with. Smuggling 
and the buying of uncustomed goods had frequent anathe- 
mas dealt out against them, and expulsion was the unmiti- 
gated penalty. Respect of persons was strictly forbidden 
to the preachers, who were also enjoined to be easy of ac- 
cess to all. Every preacher was to promise rather to break 
a limb than to disappoint a congregation. No preacher 
was to be continued who could not preach twice every day. 
He was to take care that only suitable tunes should be 
sung; and was advised to use in public only hymns of 
prayer and praise, not those descriptive of states of mind. 
Lemonade was to be taken after preaching, or candied 
orange peel, or a little warm ale; but egg and wine, and 
late suppers, are denounced as downright poison. The 
views entertained of a call to the ministry deserve quoting 
in full: 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



209 



<f Q. How shall we try those who think they are mover] 
by the Holy Ghost, and called of God to preach? 

"A. Inquire, 1. Do they know God as a pardoning 
God? Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do 
they desire and seek nothing but God? And are they holy 
in all manner of conversation? % 

"2. Have they gifts — as well as grace — for the work? 
Have they a clear, sound understanding? Have they a 
right judgment in the things of God? Have they a just 
conception of salvation by faith? And has God given 
them any degree of utterance? Do they speak justly, 
readily, clearly? 

"3. Have they fruit? Are any truly convinced of sin, 
and converted to God, by their preaching? 

" As long as these three marks concur in any, we believe 
he is called of God to preach." 

The probation of the preachers was at first one year; but 
was afterward extended to four. The following minute of 
1745 shows that Mr. Charles Wesley was never considered 
as co-ordinate with his brother in the government of the 
societies: 

" Q. Should not my brother folloiv me step by step, and 
Mr. Merkon [another clergyman] him? 
"A. As far as possible." 

"What Mr. Wesley was next to write, was a matter on 
which he asked the advice of the conference for several 
vears. A little stock of medicines, to be dispensed to the 
poor, was ordered to be provided for London, Bristol, and 
Newcastle. It is not generally known that Mr. Wesley 
pursued a course of regular medical study, while at Ox- 
ford. Preachers were cautioned against giving out long 
hymns, and were exhorted to choose the tunes, that so 
they might be suitable to the hymn. Copies of the 
minutes of the conference were to be written out and given 

18* 



210 



THE LIFE 0E 



to each member present: when the number of preachers 
increased, printing was adopted.* In 1749 it seems to 
have been proposed that the societies every-where should 
be considered one, of which the London society should be 
the mother church. This, however, came to nothing. 
The societies, indeecL were one, but the center of union 
was first Mr. Wesley himself, then the conference of 
preachers. In the same year all chapels were directed to 
be built after the model of that of Rotherham, and the 
number of circuits, each very extensive, had increased to 
twenty-two. Regular funds for the support of the preach- 
ers, and for aiding worn-out preachers, began now to be 
established. A regular settlement of the chapels upon 
trustees had been enjoined in 1749; and in 1765 a person 
was appointed to be sent through England to survey the 
deeds, and supply wanting trustees. All chapel windows 
were to be sashed; no "tub pulpits" were to be allowed; 
and men and women were every-where to sit apart. The 
societies are warned against little oaths, such as "my life," 
"my honor," etc., and against "compliments," and un- 
meaning words. In general, many are reproved for talking 
too much, and reading too little. In 1776 all octagon 
chapels are directed to be built like that at Yarm; and all 
square ones like that at Scarboro. No Chinese paling 
was to be set up before any chapel; and the people are 
forbidden to crowd into the preachers' houses, as though 
they were coffee-houses. No leaders' meeting was to be 
held without the presence of a preacher, and the spirit of 
debating at all meetings was to be strictly guarded against. 

* Perhaps not more than one or two manuscript copies of the complete 
minutes of the conferences from 1744 to 1747 are in existence. That 
which lies before me, and from which extracts have been made in the pre- 
ceding pages, wants two or three of the first pages of the minutes of 1744. 
It was not written by Mr. Wesley, but is a copy corrected by his own 
hand in different places. This is mentioned, as several of the extracts 
will be new even to some of the senior preachers. 



RET. JOHN WESLET. 



If bankrupts did not pay their debts when they are able, 
they were to be excluded the society. Sluts were to be 
kept out of the preachers' houses, and cleanliness was held 
to be next to godliness. 

Thus, to a number of little things among many greater 
and weightier matters, the active mind, the taste, and the 
orderly habits of the founder of Methodism applied itself. 
Every thing was, however, kind and bland in his manner 
of injunction; and when he was disappointed as to the 
exact observance of his regulations, his displeasure was 
admirably proportioned to the weight of the case. ISo 
man generally knew better how to estimate the relative 
importance of things, and to give each its proper place and 
rank, although it would be to deny to him the infirmity of 
human nature to suppose that this rule of proportion was 
always observed. If little things were by him sometimes 
made great, this praise, however, he had without abate- 
ment, that he never made sreat things little. 

The notices of the deaths of the preachers, year by year, 
in the early minutes, all bear the impress of the brevity 
and point of Mr. Wesley's style. The first time that the 
regular question, "What preachers have died this year?" 
appears, is in the minutes of 1777. A few sketches of 
character from this laconic obituary in different years, will 
illustrate his manner of keeping these annual records: 

"Thomas Hosking, a young man, just entering on the 
work; zealous, active, and of an unblamable behavior. 
And Richard Burke, a man of faith and patience, made 
perfect through sufferings: one who joined the wisdom and 
calmness of age with the simplicity of childhood. " 

"Richard Boardman, a pious, good-natured, sensible 
man, greatly beloved of all that knew him. He was one 
of the two first that freely offered themselves to the service 
of our brethren in America. He died of an apoplectic fit, 
and preached the night before his death. It seems he 



212 



THE LIFE OF 



might have been eminently useful, but good is the will of 
the Lord. 

"Robert Swindells had been with us above forty years., 
He was an Israelite indeed. In all those years I never 
knew him to speak a word which he did not mean; and he 
always spoke the truth in love; I believe no one ever 
heard him speak an unkind word. He went through 
exquisite pain — by the stone — for many years; but he was 
not weary. He was still 

'Patient in bearing iU, and doing- well.' 

"One thing he had almost peculiar to himself; he had no 
enemy! So remarkably was that word fulfilled, 'Blessed 
are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.' 

"James Barry was for many years a faithful laborer in 
our Lord's vineyard. And as he labored much, so he 
suffered much; but with unwearied patience. In his death 
he suffered nothing, stealing quietly away in a kind of 
lethargy. 

"Thomas Payne was a bold soldier of Jesus Christ. 
His temper was uncommonly vehement; but before he 
went hence, all that vehemence was gone, and the lion 
was become a lamb. He went away in the full triumph 
of faith, praising God with his latest breath. 

"Robert Naylor, a zealous, active young man, was 
caught away by a fever, in the strength of his years. But 
it was in a good hour; for he returned to Him whom his 
soul loved, in the full assurance of faith. 

"A fall from his horse, which was at first thought of 
little consequence, occasioned the death of John Livermore; 
a plain, honest man, much devoted to God, and determined 
to live and die in the best of services. 

"John Prickard, a man thoroughly devoted to God, and 
an eminent pattern of holiness: and Jacob Howell, a faith- 
ful old soldier, fairly worn out in his Master's service. 

" Thomas Mitchell, an old soldier of Jesus Christ. 



REV. JOKS WESLEY. 



213 



''John Fletcher, [vicar of Madeley,] a pattern of all 
holiness, scarce to be paralleled in a century; and J. Pea- 
cock, young in years, but old in grace; a pattern of all 
holiness, full of faith, and love, and zeal for God. 

"Jeremiah. Robertshaw, who was a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ, fairly worn out in his Master's service. He was a 
pattern of patience for many years, laboring under sharp, 
and almost continual pain, of meekness and gentleness to 
all men, and of simplicity and godly sincerity. 

" Joshua Keighley, who was a young man deeply devoted 
to God, and greatly beloved by all that knew him. He 
was 

* About the marriage state to prove, 
But death had swifter wings than love.' 

"Charles Wesley, who, after spending fourscore years 
with much sorrow and pain, quietly retired into Abraham's 
bosom. He had no disease; but after a gradual decay of 
some months, 

1 The weary wheels of life stood still at last.' 

His least praise was, his talent for poetry: although Dr. 
Watts did not scruple to say, that 'that single poem, 
Wrestling Jacob, was worth all the verses he himself had 
written.' 

, "John Mayly, worn out in the service of his Master: he 
suffered much in his last illness, and died triumphant in 
the Lord." 

Thus neither his brother Charles, nor Mr. Fletcher, had 
a longer eulogy than any other preacher; so great was Mr. 
Wesley's love of brevity. 

The "care of the Churches" now had come upon him, 
and was increasing; he had a responsibility to man as well 
as to God for the right management of a people whom his 
labors and those of his coadjutors had formed into a body 
distinct from the National Church, and indeed as to all 
ecclesiastical control separate from it, although, in part, 



214 



THE LIFE OF 



the members were attendants on her services. He was 
most anxious that this people should be raised to the high- 
est state of religious and moral excellence; that they should 
be exemplary in all the relations of life, civil and domestic; 
wise in the Scriptures; well-read in useful books; self- 
denying in their conduct almost to severity; and liberal in 
their charities, in order to which they were enjoined to 
abstain from all unnecessary indulgences, and to be plain 
and frugal in dress. They were expected to rise early to 
a religious service at five o'clock, and to attend some 
evening service, if possible, several times in the week; 
and, beside their own Sabbath meetings, to be punctual in 
observing the services of the Church. They were to add 
to all this the most zealous efforts to do good to the bodies 
and souls of those who were around them, and to per- 
severe in all these things with an ardor and an unwea- 
riedness equal to his own. With these great objects so 
strongly impressed upon his mind, that he should feel com- 
pelled to superintend every part of the system he had put 
into operation, and attend to every thing great or little 
which he conceived to retard or accelerate its motion, was 
the natural consequence, and became with him matter of 
imperative conscience. A nobler object man could not 
propose to himself, than thus to spread the truth and the* 
example of a living and practical Christianity through the 
land, and to revive the spirit of piety in a fallen Church, 
and among a neglected people; and he had sufficient 
proofs from the wonderful success which had followed, 
success, too, of the most unequivocal kind, because the 
hearts of " multitudes had been turned to the Lord/' that 
he was in the path of duty, and that the work was of God; 
but the standard which he set up in his own mind, and in 
his rules, both for his preachers and people, was so high, 
that, in the midst of all those refreshing joys which the 



REV, JOHN "WESLEY. 



215 



review of the work often brought, feelings of disappoint- 
ment, and something like vexation, occasionally break 
forth in the minutes of his conferences. On the preachers 
in their circuits an activity, an occupation of time, and an 
attention to various duties had been enjoined, similar to his 
own; but the regulations, under which they were placed, 
were often minute, and in minor matters they were often 
failing, even when, in other respects, they most faithfully 
and laboriously fulfilled their ministry. Stewards, leaders, 
and trustees, came in also occasionally for their share of 
remonstrance and rebuke on account of inattention; while 
the societies, as being exposed to the various errors of the 
day, and to the ordinary influences of the temptations of 
an earthly state, sometimes declined, and then again re- 
vived; in some places were negligent, and in others were 
almost every thing he could wish them to be, so that he 
could say, with an apostle, respecting them, " Great is my 
glorying." To Mr. Wesley's frequent trials of patience 
were to be added the controversies, often very illiberal, in 
which he was engaged, and the constant misrepresentations 
and persecutions, to which he and the societies were for 
many years exposed. When all these things are consid- 
ered, and when it is also recollected how much every man 
who himself works by a strict method is apt to be affected 
by the irregularities and carelessness of others, the full 
and tranquil flow of his zeal and energy, and the temper, 
at once so strict and so mild, which breathes in the minutes 
of the conferences, place him in a very admirable point 
of light. Vexation and disappointment passed over his 
serene mind like the light clouds over the bright summer 
field. The principle of an entire devotedness to serve 
God, and "his generation according to the will of God," 
in him never relaxed; and the words of one of his own 
beautiful hymns, to which, in advanced life, in a conversa- 



216 



THE LIFE OF 



tion with a friend, he once alluded, as expressing his own 
past and habitual experience, were in him finely lealized: 

''Jesus, confirm my heart's desire, 

To work, and speak, and think for thee; 
Still let me guard the holy fire, 
And still stir up thy gift in me. 

Read}^ for all thy perfect will. 

My acts of faith, and love repeat, 
Till death thy endless mercies seal, 

And make the sacrifice complete." 



CHAPTER X. 

The doctrines and principal branches of the discipline 
of the body being generally settled, Mr. Wesley desisted 
from publishing extracts from the minutes of the annual 
conferences from 1749 to 1765. In the minutes of the 
latter year we find for the first time a published list of the 
circuits, and of the preachers.* The circuits were then 
twenty-five in England, extending from Cornwall to New- 
castle upon Tyne; in Scotland four; in Wales two; in Ire- 
land eight; in all thirty -nine. The total number of the 
preachers, given up entirely to the work, and acting under 
Mr. Wesley's direction, had then risen to ninety-two. But 
it will be necessary to look back upon the labors of the 
two brothers during this interval. Instead, however, of 
tracing Mr. Wesley's journeys into various parts of the 

* In the manuscript copy of the first minutes before mentioned, lists of 
circuits occasionally appear, as in 1746: u How many circuits are there? 
Answer. — Seven. 1. London, including Surrey and Kent. 2. Bristol, 
including Somersetshire, Portland, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and Glouces- 
tershire. 3. Cornwall. 4. Evesham, including Shrewsbury, Leominster, 
Hereford, Stroud, and Wednesbury. 5. York, including Yorkshire, 
Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire* 
6. Newcastle. 7. Wales." 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



217 



kingdom in detail from his journals, which present one 
uniform and unwearied activity in his high calling, it will 
be sufficient to notice the principal incidents. 

Mr. Charles Wesley married in 1749, yet still continued 
his labors with but little abatement. He was in London 
at the time of the earthquake, and was preaching at the 
Foundery early in the morning when the second shock 
occurred. The entry in his journal presents him in a sub- 
lime attitude, and may be given as an instance of what 
may be truly called the majesty of faith: "March 8, 1750. 
This morning, a quarter after five, we had another shock 
of an earthquake, far more violent than that of February 
8th. I was just repeating my text, when it shook the 
Foundery so violently, that we all expected it to fall on 
our heads. A great cry followed from the women and 
children. I immediately called out, 'Therefore, we will 
not fear, though the earth be moved, and the hills be car- 
ried into the midst of the sea; for the Lord of hosts is with 
us; the God of Jacob is our refuge/ He filled my heart 
with faith, and my mouth with words, shaking their souls 
as well as their bodies. The earth moved westward, then 
eastward, then westward again, through all London and 
"Westminster. It was a strong and jarring motion, at- 
tended with a rumbling noise like that of thunder. Many 
houses were much shaken, and some chimneys thrown 
down, but without any farther hurt." (Journal.) 

The impression produced in London by this visitation 
is thus recorded in a letter from Mr. Briggs to Mr. John 
Wesley: "This great city has been, for some days past, 
under terrible apprehensions of another earthquake. Yes- 
terday, thousands fled out of town, it having been confi- 
dently asserted by a dragoon, that he had a revelation that 
great part of London, and Westminster especially, would 
be destroyed by an earthquake on the 4th instant between 
twelve and one at night. The whole city was under direful 

19 



218 



THE LIFE OF 



apprehensions. Places of worship were crowded with 
frightened sinners, especially our two chapels, and the 
Tabernacle, where Mr. Whitefield preached. Several of 
the classes came to their leaders, and desired that they 
would spend the night with them in prayer; which was 
done, and God gave them a blessing. Indeed, all around 
was awful. Being not at all convinced of the prophet's 
mission, and having no call from any of my brethren, I 
went to bed at my usual time, believing I was safe in the 
hands of Christ; and likewise that, by doing so, I should 
be the more ready to rise to the preaching in the morning; 
which I did, praised be my kind Protector.' ' In a post- 
script he adds, "Though crowds left the town on Wednes- 
day night, yet crowds were left behind; multitudes of 
whom, for fear of being suddenly overwhelmed, left their 
houses, and repaired to the fields, and open places in the 
city. Tower Hill, Moorfields, but, above all, Hyde Park, 
were filled, the best part of the night, with men, women, 
and children, lamenting. Some, with stronger imagina- 
tions than others, mostly women, ran crying in the streets, 
' An earthquake! an earthquake !' Such distress, perhaps, 
is not recorded to have happened before in this careless 
city. Mr. Whitefield preached at midnight in Hyde Park. 
Surely God will visit this city; it will be a time of mercy 
to some. 0 may I be found watching!" (Whitehead's 
Life.) 

So ready were these great preachers of the time to take 
advantage of every event by which they might lead men 
to God. One knows not which most to admire, Mr. White- 
field preaching at midnight in Hyde Park to a crowd of 
affrighted people, expecting the earth to swallow them up, 
or Mr. Charles Wesley, with the very ground reeling under 
him, calling out to the congregation, "Therefore, we will 
not fear, though the earth be moved, and the hills be car- 
ried into the midst of the sea; for the Lord of hosts is 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



219 



with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge," and using this 
as his text. 

The detected immorality and expulsion of one of the 
preachers, James Wheatley,* led the brothers to determine 
upon instituting a more strict inquiry into the life and be- 
havior of every preacher in connection with them. Mr. 
Charles "Wesley undertook that office, as being, perhaps, 
more confident in his own discernment of character, and 
less influenced by affection to the preachers. The result 
was, however, highly creditable to them, for no irregularity 
of conduct was detected; but as the visitation was not con- 
ducted, to say the least of it, in the bland manner in which 
it would have been executed by Mr. John Wesley, who 
was indeed alone regarded as the father of the connection, 
it led, as might be expected, to bickerings. Many of the 
preachers did not come up to Mr. Charles Wesley's notions 
of attachment to the Church; some began to wish a little 
larger share in the government; and a few did not rise to 
his standard of ministerial abilities, although of this he 
judged only by report. From this time a stronger feeling 
of disunion between the preachers and him grew up, which 
ultimately led to his taking a much less active part in the 
affairs of the body, except to interfere occasionally with 
his advice, and, in still later years, now and then to cen- 
sure the increasing irregularity of his brother's proceedings. 
The fact was, Mr. John Wesley was only carried forward 

* Mr. "Wesley lias been censured by some persons for sanctioning the 
publication of a pamphlet on the "Duties of Husbands and Wives," 
written, as they supposed, by this wretched man, and especially for doing 
this after the misconduct of the author had been brought to light. But 
the charge is without foundation. The pamphlet in question was not 
written by James Wheatley, the preacher, but by William Whateley, the 
Puritan minister of Banbury; a man of the most exemplary piety, and 
one of the best practical writers of his age, who died in 1639. The work 
from which the pamphlet was extracted is entitled, l 'A Bride-Bush," and 
bears the date of 1619, which was at least a hundred years before Wheat- 
ley was born. 



220 



THE LIFE OF 



by the same stream which had impelled both the brothers 
irretrievably far beyond the line prescribed to regular 
Churchmen; and Charles was chafing himself with the 
vain attempt to buffet back the tide, or at least to render 
it stationary. He saw, no doubt, during the visitation 
which he had lately undertaken, a growing tendency to 
separation from the Church both among many of the 
preachers and the people, which, although it was the 
natural, nay, almost necessary, result of the circumstances 
in which they were placed, he somewhat uncandidly at- 
tributed to the ambition of the former; and, laying it down 
as a necessary qualification, that no preacher ought to be 
employed without giving some explicit pledge as to his 
purpose of adherence to the Church, he attempted to asso- 
ciate himself with his brother in the management, with 
equal power to call preachers into the work, and then to 
govern them. He appears laudably to have wished to 
improve their talents; but he proposed also greatly to 
restrict their number, and to subject them to stricter tests 
as to their attachment to the Establishment. Here began 
an important difference between the two brothers. Some 
impression was made upon the mind of Mr. John Wesley 
by his brother's letters written to him during his tour of 
inquisition, principally as they exaggerated the growing 
danger of separation from the Church; and upon Charles' 
return to London, John was persuaded, although "with 
difficulty," to sign an agreement, engaging that no 
preacher should be called into the work except by both of 
them conjointly, nor any readmitted but with mutual 
consent. The intention of Charles was evidently to obtain 
a controlling power over his brother's proceedings; but 
there was one great rule to which Mr. John Wesley was 
more steadily faithful. This was to carry on and extend 
that which he knew to be the work of God, without regard- 
ing probable future consequences of separation from the 



KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 



221 



Ohurch after his death;* which was in fact the principle on 
which they had agreed at the first conference of 1774, 
(see pages 136, 137,) and to which Charles stood pledged 
as fully as himself. It seems, therefore, that when Mr. 
John Wesley more fully discoyered his brother's intention 
to restrict the number of preachers, under the plea of em- 
ploying only men of superior abilities, and more especially 
after all that had passed between Charles and them during 
the inquisitorial visitation just named had been reported 
to him, he felt little disposed to assent to his haying co- 
authority with himself in the management of the connec- 
tion; and Charles withdrawing more from public life, the 
goyernment remained with John still more exclusiyely than 
before. This acquisition of entire authority, as it has been 
called, has been referred to by one of Mr. Wesley's biogra- 
phers as a proof of his ambition, and his inability to bear 
a riyal. The affection of the brothers itself affords a strong- 
presumption against the existence of any such jealousy 
between them: and beside we find no previous instance of 
a single struggle for authority. But the fact was, that 
John always led the way, as sole director, with Charles as 
a confidential adviser; and they long acted together in this 
relation as with one soul. In the present case it was 
Charles only who grasped at a power which he had not 
previously possessed; and this was for a moment yielded, 
though hesitatingly, upon an ex parte statement, and under 
views not fully manifested. When, however, those were 
disclosed, John recoiled; and his brother, by a partial se- 
cession from the work, left the whole care of it upon his 
hands. Mr. Charles Wesley had, indeed, some time before 
this, rather hastily interposed to prevent the marriage of 
his brother with a very pious and respectable woman, 

* u Church or no Church," he observes in one of his letters to Charles, 
11 we must attend to the work of saving souls." And in another, "I nei- 
ther set it up. nor pull it down ; but let you and I build the city of God.'* 

19* 



222 



THE LIFE OF 



Mrs. Grace Murray, to whom lie was attached, and that 
probably under the influence of a little family pride, as she 
was not in an elevated rank of life;* and this affair, in 
which there appears to have been somewhat of treachery, 
although no doubt well intended, had for the first time 
interrupted their harmony. But it is not all likely that 
any feeling of resentment remained in the mind of John; 
and indeed the commission of visitation, with which Charles 
had been invested, was a sufficient proof that confidence 
had been restored. The true reason of the difference was, 
that the one wished to contract the work, from fear of the 
probable consequence of separation from the Church; the 
other pursued his course of enlarging and extending it, 
resolving to prevent separation to the best of his power, 
but leaving that issue in higher hands. Still, however, the 
affection of the brothers remained unimpaired. 

In the year 1751, as Mr. Wesley was still resolved to 
marry, believing that his usefulness would be thereby pro- 

* Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Whitefield got the lady hastily married 
to Mr. Bennett, one of the preachers, while his brother was at a distance, 
probably not being himself aware, any more than she, of the strength of 
his attachment. The following extract from one of Mr. Wesley's unpub- 
lished letters shows, however, that he deeply felt it: u The sons of Zeruiah 
were too strong for me. The whole world fought against me, but, above 
all, my own familiar friend. Then was the word fulfilled, 4 Son of man, 
behold, I take from thee the desire of thine eyes at a stroke, yet shalt thou 
not lament, neither shall thy tears run down.' The fatal, irrecoverable 
stroke was struck on Thursday last. Yesterday I saw my friend — that 
was — and him to whom she is sacrificed. 1 But why should a living man 
complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?' " The following pas- 
sages, from a letter of the venerable vicar of Shoreham to Mr. Charles, 
intimate how much he sympathized with Mr. John Wesley on the occa- 
sion, and how anxious he was to prevent a breach between the brothers, 
which this, certainly unbrotherly, act, the only one into which Charles 
seems to have been betrayed, was near producing. The letter is dated 
Shoreham, 1749: "Yours came this day to hand. I leave you to guess 
how such news must affect a person whose very soul is one with yours, and 
our friend. Let me conjure you to soothe his sorrows. Pour nothing but 
oil and wine into his wounds. Indulge no views, no designs, but what 
tend to the honor of God, the promoting the kingdom of his dear Son, and 
the healing of our wounded friend. How would the Philistines rejoice 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



223 



moted, he took to wife Mrs. Yizelle, a widow lady of inde- 
pendent fortune. She was a woman of a cultivated under- 
standing, as her remaining letters testify; and that she 
appeared to Mr. Wesley to possess every other qualifica- 
tion, which promised to increase both his usefulness and 
happiness, we may conclude from his having made choice 
of her as his companion. "VTe must suppose, also, that as 
he never intended to relax his labors, and adopt a more 
settled mode of life, this matter also was fully understood, 
and agreed to before marriage. But whatever good quali- 
ties Mrs. Wesley might appear to have, they were at length 
wholly swallowed up in the fierce passion of jealousy. For 
some time she traveled with him; but becoming weary of 
this, and not being able to bind him down to a more do- 
mestic life, this passion increased. The .violence of her 
temper broke out, also, against Mr. Charles Wesley and 
his wife. This arose from very trilling circumstances, 
magnified into personal slights; and various unpleasant 

could they hear that Saul and Jonathan were in danger from their own 
swords !" 

I have seen an explanation of Mr. Charles Wesley's conduct in this 
affair by the late Miss Wesley ; but as the matter occurred before her birth, 
I have much doubt as to her perfect knowledge of the circumstances, so 
that I shall not fully state it. She lays the fault chiefly on the lady's want 
of explicitness; states that she formed a previous, but concealed, attach- 
ment to Mr. Bennett; and that Mr. Charles having discovered this, he 
hastened the marriage. 

Whatever the ostensible reason might be, it was no doubt eagerly seized 
by Mr. Charles Wesley as an occasion of breaking off a match, which he 
appears some time before to have interfered with, influenced, it is most 
probable, by the consideration of Mrs. Murray's inferior rank. From this 
feeling Mr. John Wesley was much more exempt, as the following anec- 
dote, found in one of Miss Wesley's letters, indicates in a way very 
creditable to his amiable temper: "My brother Charles had an attachment 
in early youth to an amiable girl of inferior birth; this was much opposed 
by my mother and her family, who mentioned it with concern to my uncle. 
Finding from my father that this was the chief objection, my uncle only 
replied, 'Then there is no family blood? I hear the girl is good; but of 
no family?' l Nor fortune either,' said my mother. He made no reply* 
but sent my brother a sum of money as a wedding present; and I believo 
sincerely regretted that he was ultimately crossed in his inclination." 



THE LIFE OF 



scenes are mentioned in Mr. Charles Wesley's unpublished 
letters, and described with a sprightliness which, while it 
shows that he was unconscious of having given her any- 
just cause of offense, equally indicates the absence of 
sympathy. Perhaps this had been worn out by the long 
continuance of her caustic attacks upon him and his family, 
both by word and by letter. Certainly Mr. Charles Wes- 
ley must have felt her to be an annoying correspondent, if 
we may judge from some of her letters still preserved, and 
in which, singular as it may appear, she zealously contends 
for her husband's superiority, and is indignant that he 
should be wearing himself out with excessive labor, while 
Charles was remaining at home in ease. Dr. Southey has 
candidly and justly stated the matter between her and her 
persecuted husband: 

"Had Mrs. Wesley been capable of understanding her 
husband's character, she could not possibly have been 
jealous; but the spirit of jealousy possessed her, and drove 
her to the most unwarrantable actions. It is said that she 
frequently traveled a hundred miles for the purpose of 
watching, from a window, who was in the carriage with 
him when he entered a town. She searched his pockets, 
opened his letters, put his letters and papers into the hands 
of his enemies, in hopes that they might be made use of 
to blast his character, and sometimes laid violent hands 
upon him and tore his hair. She frequently left his house, 
and, upon his earnest entreaties, returned again; till, after 
having thus disquieted twenty years of his life, as far as it 
was possible for any domestic vexations to disquiet a man 
whose life was passed in locomotion, she seized on part of 
his journals, and many other papers, which were nevei 
restored, and departed, leaving word that she never in- 
tended to return. He simply states the fact in his journal, 
saying that he knew not what the cause had been; and he 
briefly adds, Non cam reliqui, non dimisi, non revocabo: ' I I 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



225 



did not forsake her, I did not dismiss her, I will not recall 
her.' " (Southey's Life.) 

The worst part of Mrs. Wesley's conduct, and which 
only the supposition of a degree of insanity, excited by 
jealousy, can palliate, was that she interpolated several 
letters, which she had intercepted, so as to make them 
bear a bad construction; and as Mr. "Wesley had always 
maintained a large correspondence with all classes of per- 
sons, and among others with pious females, in some of 
whose letters there were strong expressions of Christian 
affection, she availed herself of this means of defaming 
him. Some of these she read to different persons in pri- 
vate, and especially to Mr. Wesley's opponents and ene- 
mies, adding extempore passages in the same tone of voice, 
but taking care not to allow the letters themselves to be 
read by the auditors; and in one or two instances she pub- 
* lished interpolated or forged letters in the public prints. 
How he conducted himself amidst these vexations, the 
following passages in a letter from Miss Wesley to a friend, 
written a little before her death, will show. They are at 
once important, as explanatory of the kind of annoyance 
to which this unhappy marriage subjected her uncle, and 
as containing an anecdote strongly illustrative of his char- 
acter: 

"I think it was in the year 1775 my uncle promised to 
take me with him to Canterbury and Dover. About this 
time Mrs. Wesley had obtained some letters which she 
used to the most injurious purposes, misinterpreting spirit- 
ual expressions, and interpolating words. These she read 
to some Calvinists, and they were to be sent to the Morn- 
ing Post. A Calvinist gentleman, who esteemed my father 
and uncle, came to the former, and told him that, for the 
sake of religion, the publication should be stopped, and 
Mr. John Wesley be allowed to answer for himself. As 
Mrs. Wesley had read, but did not show the letters to him, 



226 



THE LIFE OF 



he had some doubts of their authenticity; and, though 
they were addressed to Mr. John Wesley, they might bo 
forgeries; at any rate he ought not to leave town at such 
a juncture, but clear the matter satisfactorily. 

"My dear father, to whom the reputation of my uncle 
was far dearer than his own, immediately saw the import- 
ance of refutation, and set off to the Foundery to induce 
him to postpone his journey, while I, in my own mind, 
was lamenting such a disappointment, having anticipated 
it with all the impatience natural to my years. Never 
shall I forget the manner in which my father accosted my 
mother on his return home. 'My brother/ says he, ' is 
indeed an extraordinary man. I placed before him the 
importance of the character of a minister; the evil conse- 
quences which might result from his indifference to it; the 
cause of religion; stumbling-blocks cast in the way of the 
weak; and urged him by every relative and public motive 
to answer for himself, and stop the publication. His reply 
was, Brother, when I devoted to God my ease, my time, 
my life, did I except my reputation? No. Tell Sally I 
will take her to Canterbury to-morrow.' 

"I ought to add, that the letters in question were satis- 
factorily proved to be mutilated, and no scandal resulted 
from his trust in God." 

Some of these letters, mutilated, interpolated, or forged 
by this unhappy woman, have got into different hands, and 
are still preserved. In the papers of the Wesley family, 
recently collected, there are, however, sufficient materials 
for a full explanation of the whole case in detail; but as 
Mr. Wesley himself spared it, no one vail, I presume, ever 
farther disturb this unpleasant affair, unless some publica- 
tion on the part of an enemy, for the sake of gain, or to 
gratify a party feeling, should render it necessary to defend 
the character of this holy and unsuspecting man* 

* The following passage, in a letter from Mr. Perronet to Mr. Charles 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



227 



A school at Kingswood, near Bristol, for the children of 
the poor, had been long built; but that neighborhood was 
also fixed upon by Mr. Wesley for an institution, in which 
the sons of the preachers, and those of the richer Meth- 
odists, should receive at once the best education, and the 
most efficient religious training. It was opened in June, 
1748, and he published soon after a " Short Account" of 
the institution, with the plan of education adopted, par- 
ticularly for those who were to remain so long in it as to 
go through a course of academical learning; and adds, 
"Whoever carefully goes through this course will be a 
better scholar than nine in ten of the graduates at Oxford 
and Cambridge.' ' In this great and good design he 

Wesley, dated Shoreham, November 3, 1752, shows that Mr. Wesley's 
matrimonial afflictions must have commenced a very short time after mar- 
riage: i4 I am truly concerned that matters are in so melancholy a situa- 
tion. I think the unhappy lady is most to be pitied, though the gentle- 
man's case is mournful enough. Their sufferings proceed from "widely 
different causes. His are the visible chastisements of a loving Father. 
Hers the immediate effects of an angry, bitter spirit; and, indeed, it is a 
sad consideration, that, after so many months have elapsed, the same 
warmth and bitterness should remain." This truly venerable and holy 
man died in 1785, in the ninety-second year of his age. Two days before 
his death, his granddaughter, Miss Briggs, who attended him day and 
night, read to him the three last chapters of Isaiah. He then desired her 
to go into the garden, to take a little fresh air. Upon her return, she 
found him in an ecstasy, with the tears running down his cheeks, from a 
deep and lively sense of the glorious things which she had just been 
reading to him ; and which he believed would shortly be fulfilled in a still 
more glorious sense than heretofore. He continued unspeakably happy all 
that day. On Sunday, his happiness seemed even to increase, till he re- 
tired to rest. Miss Briggs then went into the room to see if any thing was 
wanting; and as she stood at the foot of the bed, he smiled and said, 
*' God bless thee, my dear child, and all that belongs to thee! Yea, he 
will bless thee!" This he earnestly repeated till she left the room. 
When she went in the next morning, his happy spirit had returned to God ! 

Mr. Perronet, like those great and good men, Messrs. Grimshaw and 
Fletcher, continued steadily attached to Mr. Wesley and to the Meth- 
odists. He received the preachers joyfully, fitted up a room in the par- 
sonage house for their use, and attended their ministry himself at every 
opportunity. His house was one of the regular places of the Kent cir- 
cuit, and so continued to the day of his death. All his family were mem- 
bers of the society, and two of hh sons preachers. 



228 



THE LIFE OF 



grasped at too much; and the school came in time to be 
confined to the sons of the preachers, and ceased, as at 
first, to receive boarders. Indeed, from the increase of 
the preachers' families, the school was rapidly filled, and 
required enlargement at different times; and finally it 
was necessary to establish a second school at Woodhouse 
Grove, in Yorkshire. The circumstance of the preachers 
being so much from heme, and removing every one or 
two years from their circuits, rendered an institution of 
this kind imperative; and. as it necessarily grew out of 
the system of itinerancy, it was cheerfully and liberally, 
though often inadequately, supported by private subscrip- 
tions, and a public annual collection throughout all the 
congregations. The most gratifying moral results have 
followed; and a useful and religious education has been 
secured to the sons of the preachers, many of whom, 
especially of late years, having afforded undeniable proofs 
of genuine conversion, and of a Divine call to public 
labors in the Church of Christ, have been admitted into 
the ministry, and are among its highest ornaments, or its 
brightest hopes. It is, however, to be regretted that the 
original plan of Mr. Wesley, to found an institution for 
the connection at large, which should unite the advan- 
tages of a school and a college, has not been resumed in 
later and more favorable times. Various circumstances, 
at that early period, militated against the success of this 
excellent project, which have gradually disappeared; and 
if in that infant state of the cause, Mr. Wesley wisely 
thought that Methodism should provide for all its wants, 
religious and educational, within itself, much more incum- 
bent is it to do so now. Many of the sons of our friends, 
for want of such a provision, have been placed in schools 
where their religious principles have been neglected or 
perverted, and too often have been taught to ridicule, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



229 



or to be ashamed of, the religious profession of their 
fathers.* 

In 1753 Mr. Wesley visited Scotland a second time, 
and preached at Glasgow to large congregations. He had 
gone there on the invitation of that excellent man, Dr. 
Gillies, minister of the College kirk, who, a few days after 
he left, wrote to him as follows: "The singing of hymns 
here meets with greater opposition than I expected. Seri- 
ous people are much divided. Those of better under- 
standing and education are silent; but many others are so 
prejudiced, especially at the singing publicly, that they 
speak openly against it, and look upon me as led to do a 
very wrong or sinful thing. I beg your advice, whether 
to answer them only by continuing in the practice of the 
thing, with such as have freedom to join, looking to the 
Lord for a blessing upon his own ordinance; or, if I should 
publish a sheet of arguments from reason, and Scripture, 
and the example of the godly. Your experience of the 
most effectual way of dealing with people's prejudices, 
makes your advice on this head of the greater importance. 

"I bless the Lord for the benefit and comfort of your 
acquantaince, for your important assistance in my His- 
torical Collections, and for your edifvmo* conversation and 
sermons in this place. May our gracious God prosper 
you wherever you are! 0 my dear sir, pray for your 
brother, that I may be employed in doing something for 

[* The striking- application of the above remarks to the state of things 
in relation to Methodism in this country, can not escape the observation 
of intelligent readers; and it is no little gratification to perceive that the 
testimony of both Mr. Wesley's and Mr. Watson's approbation stands 
thus recorded in support of the views which, with many others of our 
brethren in America, we have steadily entertained and frequently ex- 
pressed, on this important subject. The public developments recently 
made of the fatal consequences of sending Protestant youth to seminaries 
under the direction of Papists especially, are worthy of the deepest and 
most serious consideration. — Amer. Edit.] 

20 



230 



THE LIFE OF 



the advancement of his glory, who has done so much for 
me, and who is my only hope." 

This prejudice in favor of their own doggerel version 
of the Psalms of David generally remains among the 
Scotch to this day; and even in the Wesley an societies 
raised up there, great opposition was at first made to the 
use of hymns. The Historical Collections of Dr. Gillies, 
mentioned in his letter, dc justice to that revival of religion 
in this country of which Methodism was the instrument, 
and gives many valuable accounts of similar revivals, and 
special effusions of the Holy Spirit upon the Churches of 
Christ in different ages. 

The following extracts from two of Mr. Wesley's letters 
written about this time, show how meekly this admirable 
man could take reproof, and with how patient a temper he 
could deal with peevish and complaining men. 

"You give," says he, "five reasons why the Rev. Mr, 

P will come no more among us: 1. * Because we 

despise the ministers of the Church of England.' This I 
flatly deny. I am answering letters this very post, which 
bitterly blame me for just the contrary. 2. 'Because so 
much backbiting and evil speaking is suffered among our 
people.' It is not suffered; all possible means are used, 
both to prevent and remove it. 3. 'Because I, who have 
written so much against hoarding up money, have put out 
seven hundred pounds to interest.' I never put a sixpence 
out to interest since I was born; nor had I ever one hun- 
hundred pounds together, my own, since I came into the 
world. 4. 'Because our lay preachers have told many 
stories of my brother and me.' If they did, I am sorry 
for them: when I hear the particulars I can answer, and 
perhaps make those ashamed who believed them. 5. 
'Because we did not help a friend in distress.' We did 
help him as far as we were able. 'But we might have 
made his case known to Mr. G , Lady H , etc,' 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



23< 



So we did, more than once; but we could not pull money 
from them, whether they would or no. Therefore, these 
reasons are of no weight. You conclude with praying, 
that God would remove pride and malice from among us. 
Of pride I have too much; of malice I have none: how- 
ever, the prayer is good, and I thank you for it." 

The other letter from which I shall give an extract was 
written apparently to a gentleman of some rank and influ- 
ence: "I do not recollect, for I kept no copy of my last, 
that I charged you with want of humility, or meekness. 
Doubtless these may be found in the most splendid palaces. 
But did they ever move a man to build a splendid palace? 
Upon what motive you did this, I know not; but you are 
to answer it to God, not to me. 

"If your soul is as much alive to God, if your thirst 
after pardon and holiness is as strong, if you are as dead 
to the desire of the eye and the pride of life, as you were 
six or seven years ago, I rejoice; if not, I pray Gocl you 
may; and then you will know how to value a real friend. 

" With regard to myself, you do well to warn me against 
'popularity, a thirst of power and of applause; against 
envy, producing a seeming contempt for the conveniences 
or grandeur of this life; against an affected humility; 
against sparing from myself to give to others, from no 
other motive than ostentation.' I am not conscious to 
myself, that this is my case. However, the warning is 
always friendly, and it is always seasonable, considering 
how deceitful my heart is, and how many the enemies 
that surround me. What follows I do not understand: 
'You behold me in the ditch, wherein you helped, 
though innocently, to cast me, and with a Levitical pity 
pass by on the other side. He and you, sir, have not 
any merit, though Providence should permit all these 
sufferings to work together for my good.' I do not com- 
prehend one line of this, and, therefore, can not plead 



232 



THE LIFE OF 



either guilty or not guilty. I presume they are some 
that are dependent on me, who, you say, 'keep not the 
commandments of God; who show a repugnance to serve 
and obey; who are as full of pride and arrogance, as of 
filth and nastiness; who do not pay lawful debts, nor 
comply with civil obligations; who make the waiting on 
the offices of religion a plea for sloth and idleness; who, 
after I had strongly recommended them, did not perform 
their moral duty, but increased the number of those in- 
cumbrances which they forced on you, against your will/ 
To this I can only say, 1 . I know not whom you mean; I 
am not certain that I can so much as guess at one of 
them. 2. Whoever they are, had they followed my in- 
structions, they would have acted in a quite different 
manner. 3. If you will tell me them by name, I will 
renounce all fellowship with them. 

In the autumn of 1753 Mr. Wesley was threatened with 
consumption, brought on by repeated attacks of cold. By 
the advice of Dr. Fothergill he retired to Lewisham; and 
here, not knowing how it might please God to dispose of 
him, and wishing "to prevent vile panegyric " in case of 
death, he wrote his epitaph as follows: 

HERE LIETH 
THE BODY OF JOHN WESLEY, 
A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE BURNING ; 
WHO DIED OF A CONSUMPTION IN THE FIFTY-FIRST 
YEAR OF HIS AGE. 
NOT LEAVING, AFTER HIS DEBTS ARE PAID, 
TEN POUNDS BEHIND HIM! 
PRAYING, 

God be merciful to me an unprofitable servant! 
lie ordered that this, if any, inscription should be placed on his tombstone. 

During Mr. Wesley's illness, Mr. Whitefield wrote to 
him in a strain which shows the fullness of affection which 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



233 



existed between those great and good men, notwithstand • 
ing their differences of opinion: 

"Bristol, December 3, 1753. 

".Rev. and vert Dear Sir, — If seeing you so weak 
when leaving London distressed me, the news and pros- 
pects of your approaching dissolution hath quite weighed 
me down. I pity myself and the Church, but not you. 
A radiant throne awaits you, and erelong you will enter 
into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy 
crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an ad- 
miring throng of saints and angels. But I, poor I, that 
have been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen years, 
must be left behind to grovel here below! Well! this is 
my comfort: it can not be long ere the chariots will be 
sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain them, 
even you, reverend and very dear sir, shall not leave us 
yet: but if the decree has gone forth, that you must now 
fall asleep in Jesus, may he kiss your soul away, and give 
you to die in the embraces of triumphant love! If in 
the land of the dying, I hope to pay my last respects 
to you next. week. If not, reverend and very dear sir, 
F — a — r — e — w — e — 11. Ego sequar, etsi non passibus 
ceguis* My heart is too big, tears trickle down too fast, 
and you are, I fear, too weak for me to enlarge. Under- 
neath you may there be Christ's everlasting arms! 

"I commend you to his never-failing mercy, and am, 
reverend and very dear sir, your most affectionate, sympa- 
thizing, and afflicted younger brother in the Gospel of our 
common Lord, G. Whitefield." 

From Lewisham he removed to the Hot Wells, near 
Bristol; and, ever intent upon improving time, began his 
Notes on the New Testament. For some time after this, 
he appears to have remained in an invalid state. During 
his retirement at Paddington he read a work which made 

* U I shall follow, though not with equal steps." 
20* 



234 



THE LIFE OF 



a forcible attack upon his prejudices as a Churchman; 
and soon afterward, another, which still farther shook the 
deference he had once been disposed to pay to ecclesias- 
tical antiquity. 

"In my hours of walking, I read Dr. Calamy's Abridg- 
ment of Mr. Baxter's Life. What a scene is opened there! 
In spite of all my prejudices of education, I could not but 
see, that the poor Kon- Conformists had been used without 
either justice or merc}^; and that many of the Protestant 
bishops of King Charles had neither more religion nor 
humanity than the Popish bishops of Queen Mary." 

"I read Mr. Baxter's History of the Councils. It is 
utterly astonishing, and would be wholly incredible, but 
that his vouchers are beyond all exception. What a com- 
pany of execrable wretches have they been — one can not 
justly give them a milder title — who have, almost in every 
age since St. Cyprian, taken upon them to govern the 
Church! How has one council been perpetually cursing 
another, and delivering all over to Satan, whether prede- 
cessors or cotemporaries, who did not implicitly receive 
their determinations, though generally trifling, sometimes 
false, and frequently unintelligible, or self-contradictory! 
Surely Mohammedanism was let loose to reform the Chris- 
tians! I know not but Constantinople has gained by the 
change." 

During Mr. Wesley's illness, Mr. Charles Wesley went 
forth to visit the societies, and to supply his brother's 
place. 

In 1755, at the conference held in Leeds, a subject 
which had been frequently stirring itself, was formally 
discussed: 

"The point on which we desired all the preachers to 
speak their minds at large, was, whether we ought to sep- 
arate from the Church. Whatever was advanced on one 
side or the other was seriously and calmly considered: and 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



235 



on the third day we were all fully agreed in that genera] 
conclusion, that, whether it was lawful or not, it was no 
ways expedient." 

Part of the preachers were, without restraint, permitted 
to speak in favor of a measure, which, in former confer- 
ences, would not have been listened to in the shape of 
discussion; and the conclusion was, that the question of 
the lawfulness of separation was evaded, and the whole 
matter was reduced to "expediency." Of this confer- 
ence we have no minutes; but where was Mr. Charles 
Wesley?* Mr. Charles Perronet and some others, for 
whom Mr. Wesley had great respect, were at this time 
urging him to make full provision for the spiritual wants of 
his people, as being in fact in a state of real and hopeless 
separation from the Church; and he did some years after- 
ward so far relax, as to allow of preaching in Church 
hours under certain circumstances, as 1. "When the minis- 
ter was wicked, or held pernicious doctrine; 2. When the 
churches would not contain the population of a town, or 
where the church was distant. In that case he prescribed 
reading the psalms and lessons and part of the liturgy. 
And for this purpose, as well as for the use of the Ameri- 
can societies, he published his Abridgment of the Common 
Prayer, under the title of the "Sunday Service of the 
Methodists." 

In 1756 he printed an Address to the Clergy, plain, 
affectionate, and powerful; breathing at once the spirit of 
an apostle, and the feeling of a brother. Happy if that 
call had been heard! He might perhaps be influenced in 
this by a still lingering hope of a revival of the spirit of 
zeal and piety among the ministers of the Established 

* Three years after, Mr. Wesley published twelve reasons against 
separation, all, however, of a prudential kind. To these Mr. Charles 
We=ley added his separate testimony; but as to himself, he adds that he 
thought it not lawful. Here, then, was another difference in the viewi 
of the brothers. 



236 



THE LIFE OF 



Church; in which case that separation of his people from 
the Church, which he began to foresee as otherwise inev- 
itable, he thought might be prevented; and this he had 
undoubtedly much at heart. Under the same view it prob- 
ably was, that in 1764 he addressed a circular to all the 
serious clergy whom he knew, inviting them to a closer 
co-operation in promoting the influence of religion in the 
land, without any sacrifice of opinion, and being still at 
liberty, as to outward order, to remain "quite regular, or 
quite irregular, or partly regular and partly irregular." 
Of the thirty-four clergymen addressed, only three re- 
turned any answer. This seems to have surprised both 
him and some of his biographers. The reason is, however, 
very obvious: Mr. Wesley did not propose to abandon his 
plan and his preachers, or to get the latter ordained and 
settled in curacies, as proposed a few years before by Mr. 
"Walker of Truro; and the matter had now obviously gone 
too far for the clergy to attach themselves to Methodism. 
They saw, with perhaps clearer eyes than Mr. Wesley's, 
that the Methodists could not now be embodied in the 
Church; and that for them to co-operate directly with him, 
would only be to partake of his reproach, and to put 
difficulties in their own way, to which they had not the 
same call. A few clergymen, and but a few, still con- 
tinued to give him, with fullness of heart, the right hand 
of fellowship, and to co-operate in some degree with him. 
Backward he could not 20; but the forward career of still 
more extended usefulness was before him. From this time 
he gave up all hope of a formal connection with even the 
pious clergy. "They are/' he observes, "a rope of sand, 
and such they will continue;" and he therefore set him- 
self with deep seriousness to perpetuate the union of his 
preachers. At the conference of 1769 he read a paper, 
the object of which was to bind the preachers together by 
a closer tie, and to provide for the continuance of their 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



union after his death. They were to engage solemnly to 
devote themselves to God, to preach the old Methodist 
doctrines, and to maintain the whole Methodist discipline: 
after Mr. Wesley's death they were to repair to London, 
and those who chose to act in concert were to draw up 
articles of agreement; while such as did not so agree were 
to be dismissed "in the most friendly way possible." They 
were then to choose a committee by vote, each of the 
members of which was to be moderator in his turn, and 
this committee was to enjoy Mr. Wesley's power of pro- 
posing preachers to be admitted or excluded, of appointing 
their stations for the ensuing year, and of fixing the time 
of the next conference. This appears to have been the 
first sketch of an ecclesiastical constitution for the body, 
and it mainly consisted in the entire delegation of the 
power which Mr. "Wesley had always, to a committee of 
preachers to be chosen by the rest when assembled in 
conference. The form of government he thus proposed 
was, therefore, a species of episcopacy, to be exercised by 
a committee of three, five, or seven, as the case might be. 
Another and a more eligible provision was subsequently 
made; but this sufficiently shows that Mr. Wesley had 
given up all hope of union with the Church; and his efforts 
were henceforth directed merely to prevent any thing like 
formal separation, and the open renunciation of her com- 
munion, during his own life, by allowing his preachers to 
administer the sacraments. 

About this time much prejudice was excited against 
Mr. Wesley in Scotland by the republication of Hervey's 
Eleven Letters. He had three times visited this country; 
and, preaching only upon the fundamental truths of Chris- 
tianity, had been received with great affection. The soci- 
eties had increased, and several of his preachers were 
stationed in different towns. Lady Frances Gardiner, the 
widow of Colonel Gardiner, and other persons eminent for 



238 



THE LIFE OF 



piety and rank, attended the Methodist ministry; but the 
publication of this wretched work caused a temporary 
odium. Hervey, who had been one of the little band at 
Oxford, became a Calvinist; and, as his notions grew more 
rigid with age, so his former feelings of gratitude and 
friendship to Mr. Wesley were blunted. He had also fallen 
into the hands of Cudworth, a decided Antinomian, who 
"put in and out" of the Letters "what he pleased." They 
were not, however, published till Hervey' s death, and 
against his dying injunction. It is just to so excellent a 
man to record this fact; but the work was published in 
England, and republished, with a violent preface by Dr. 
Erskine, in Scotland; and among the Calvinists it produced 
the effect of inspiring great horror of Mr. Wesley as a 
most pestilent heretic, whom it was doing God service to 
abuse without measure or modesty. The feelings of Mr. 
Charles Wesley, at this treatment of his brother, may be 
gathered from the answer he returned upon being re- 
quested to write Hervey 's epitaph: 

ON BEING DESIRED TO WRITE AN EPITAPH FOR MR. JAMES HERVEY. 

u O'erreached, impell'd by a sly Gnostic's art, 
To stab his father, guide, and faithful friend, 
Would pious Hervey act the accuser's part? 
And could a life like his in malice end? 

No: by redeeming- love the snare is broke; 

In death his rash ingratitude he blames; 
Desires and wills the evil to revoke, 

And dooms the unfinish'd libel to the flames. 

Who then for filthy gain betray'd his trust, 
And show'd a kinsman's fault in open light? 

Let him adorn the monumental bust — 

Th' encomium fair in brass or marble write: 

Or if they need a nobler trophy raise, 

As long as Theron and Aspasio live, 
Let Madan or Romaine record his praise; 

Enough that Wesley's brother can /brgrye/''* 

The unfavorable impression made by Hervey's Letters, 

* Mr: Charles Wesley, however, afterward wrote and published some 
verses upon Mr. Hervey 's death in which the kind recollections of old 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



239 



surcharged by Cuchvorth's Antinomian renom, was, how- 
ever, quickly effaced from all but the bigots; and with 
them, judging from Moncrief 's Life of Erskine, it remains 
to this day. In his future visits to Scotland Mr. Wesley 
was received with marks of the highest respect, and at 
Perth he had the freedom of the city handsomely conferred 
upon him. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Methodism having begun to make some progress in 
America, in consequence of the emigration of some of the 
members of the society from England and Ireland,* Mr. 
Wesley inquired of the preachers of the conference of 

friendship are embodied, and the anticipations of a happy meeting iu 
heaven are sweetly expressed. The following are the concluding stanzas* 
"Father, to us vouchsafe the grace, 

Which brought our friend victorious through; 
Let us his shining footsteps trace, 

Let us his steadfast faith pursue ; 
Follow this follower of the Lamb, 
And conquer all through Jesus' name. 

Free from the law of sin and death, 

Free from the Antinomian leaven, 
He led his Master's life beneath; 

And, laboring for the rest of heaven, 
By active love and watchful prayer, 
He show'd his heart already there. 

O might we all, like him, believe, 

And keep the faith, and win the prize' 

Father, prepare and then receive 
Our hallow'd spirits to the skies, 

To chant with all our friends above, 

Thy glorious, everlasting love." 

[* Ireland seems to have had the special honor of furnishing the chief 
instruments of forming the first Methodist societies in America. Mr. 
Philip Embury, who formed the first permanent society in the city of 
New York, in 1766, and Mr. Robert Strawbridge, in Frederick county, 
Maryland, in the same year, were both from Ireland. — American Edit."] 



240 



THE LIFE OF 



1769, whether any of them would embark in that service. 
Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor, two excellent men, of 
good gifts, volunteered their services, and were sent to 
take the charge of the societies. From this time the work 
spread with great rapidity; more than twenty preacherr. 
had devoted themselves to it previously to the war of inde- 
pendence; and societies were raised up in Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, New York, and Pennsylvania.* During the war 
they still prosecuted their labors; though as several of them 
took the side of the mother country, they were exposed to 
danger. f Others, with more discretion, held on their way 
in silence, speaking only of the things of God. The warm 
loyalty of Mr. "Wesley led him to publish a pamphlet on 
the subject of the quarrel, entitled, "A Calm address to 
the American Colonies;" but the copies which were shipped 
for America were laid hold of by a friend, who suppressed 

[* New Jersey, and we think Delaware, ought to be added here; and 
in 1776 a circuit was formed in North Carolina also. Delaware especially 
ought ever to be honored by us for her generous and early protection 
to Methodism in the time of its greatest trial. It was within that small 
state, where the laws — to quote the words of Mr. Cooper — were more 
favorable, and the rulers and influential men more friendly, that Mr. 
Asbury, when the storm of the Revolutionary war was at its hight, and 
persecution raged furiously, found an asylum in the house of his never- 
to-be-forgotten friend, Judge White. — American Edit.] 

[f Some of the English preachers did act imprudently in this respect, 
and were under the necessity, in consequence, of leaving America. Mr. 
Asbury's course was marked "with more discretion;" which we are 
happy to perceive is also Mr. Watson's view of the subject. Of the 
American preachers, there is no evidence within our knowledge that any 
of them " took the side of the mother country;" although some of them, 
as well as of the members, were subjected to suspicion and persecution 
in consequence of their connection with Mr. Wesley, a known loyalist, 
and of the imprudence of some of the English preachers above mentioned; 
and also on account of their own conscientious scruples in relation to the 
spirit and practice of war in general, and particularly in regard to the 
nature of the oaths required of them in some of the states, and which 
they refused to take. For a fuller account of those times and scenes, the 
reader may consult the Life of Garrettson by Dr. Bangs, and a small 
volume entitled Cooper on Jlsbury, by Rev. Ezekiel Cooper.^AMERlCAN 
Edit.] * 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



241 



them; so that the work remained unknown in the colonies 
till a considerable time afterward. This was probably a 
fortunate incident for the infant cause. After the war 
had terminated, political views were of course laid aside, 
%nd Mr. Wesley made a provision for the government of 
"his American societies, which will be subsequently adverted 
to. They became, of course, independent of British Meth- 
odism, but have most honorably preserved the doctrines, 
the general discipline, and, above all, the spirit of the 
body. Great, and even astonishing, has been their suc- 
cess in that new and rising country, to the wide-spread 
settlements of which their plan of itinerancy was ad- 
mirably adapted. The Methodists are become, as to 
numbers, the leading religious body of the Union; and 
their annual increase is very great. In the last year 
it was thirty-six thousand, making a total in their com- 
munion of one thousand, nine hundred ministers, and four 
hundred and seventy-six thousand members, having, as 
stated in a recent statistical account published in the 
United States, upward of two millions, five hundred thou- 
sand of the population under their immediate influence. 
In the number of their ministers, members, and congre- 
gations, the Baptists nearly equal the Methodists; and 
these two bodies, both itinerant in their labors,* have left 
all the other religious denominations far behind. It is 
also satisfactory to remark, that the leading preachers and 

[* As regards the Baptists, this is a mistake. In their numbers, too, 
both of ministers and members, however respectable, they are, we think, 
much less nearly equal to those of the Methodist community than our 
excellent author seems to suppose. In making a correct statistical com- 
parison of the number of ministers particularly, in the two communions, 
on the principle of enumeration which we believe our Baptist brethren 
adopt, all the local as well as the itinerant ministers of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church ought to be included; and then there is almost no compari- 
son. We make not this note with any view or disposition to disparage, in 
any respect, the numerous and respectable denomination to which it re- 
lates, but simply for the sake of what we believe to be due in a faithful 
record of historical facts. — American Edit.] 

21 



242 



THE LIFE OF 



members of the Methodist Church in the United States 
appear to be looking forward with enlarged views, and 
with prudent regard, to the future, and to aim at the cul- 
tivation of learning in conjunction with piety. Several 
colleges have been from time to time established; and 
recently a university, for the education of the youth of 
the American connection has been founded.* The work 
in the United States has been distinguished by frequent 
and extraordinary revivals of religion, in which a signal 
effect has been produced upon the moral condition of 
large districts of country, and great numbers of people 
have been rapidly brought under a concern for their sal- 
vation. In the contemplation of results so vast, and in 
so few years, we may devoutly exclaim, "What hath God 
wrought!" 

The mention of what are called revivals of religion in 
the United States may properly here lead us to notice, 
that, in Great Britain also, almost every Methodist society 
has at different times experienced some sudden and extra- 
ordinary increase of members, the result of what has 
been believed to be, and that not without good reason, a 
special effusion of Divine influence upon the minds of 
men. Sometimes these effects have attended the preach- 
ing of eminently-energetic preachers, but have often ap- 
peared where those stationed in the circuits have not been 
remarkably distinguished for energy or pathos. Some- 
times they have followed the continued and earnest pray- 
ers of the people; at others they have come suddenly and 
unlooked for. The effects, however, have been, that the 

[* The Wesleyan University, recently established at Middletown, in 
the state of Connecticut, is by no means designed for the education of the 
youth of the Methodist connection exclusively. It is founded on the gen- 
eral principles of other American colleges and universities, and for the 
education of youth generally. All classes, without subjection to any re- 
ligious test, or any question in regard to their religious tenets, provided 
only their moral conduct be good, are admitted on the same terms, and 
to the enjoyment of equal privileges. — AMERICAN Edit.] 



KEV. JOHN WESLEY. 



243 



piety of the societies has been greatly quickened, and 
rendered more deep and active, and that their number 
has increased; and of the real conversion of many, who 
have thus been wrought upon, often very suddenly, the 
best evidence has been afforded. To sudden conversions, 
as such, great objections have been indeed taken. For 
these, however, there is but little reason; for if we believe 
the testimony of Scripture, thai the Spirit is not only 
given to the disciples of Christ, after they assume that 
character, but in order to their becoming such, that, 
according to the words of our Lord, this Spirit is sent 
"to convince the world of sin," to the end that they may 
believe in Christ, and that the Gospel, faithfully and fully 
proclaimed by the ministers of Christ, is "the power of 
God unto salvation to every one that believe th," and is 
made so by the accompanying influence of the Holy 
Ghost, who shall prescribe a mode to Divine operation? 
Who, if he believes in such an influence accompanying 
the truth, shall presume to say that when that truth is 
proposed, the attention of the careless shall be roused 
only by a gradual and slow process? — that the heart shall 
not be brought into a state of right feeling as to eternal 
concerns, but by a reiteration of means which we think 
most adapted to produce that effect? — that no influence 
on the mind is genuine and Divine, if it operates not 
in a prescribed manner? — that the Holy Spirit shall not 
avail himself of the variety which exists in the mental 
constitutions of men, to effect his purposes of mercy by 
different methods? — and that the operations of grace shall 
not present, as well as those of nature, that beauteous 
variety which so much illustrates the glory of Him "who 
worketh all in all?" And, farther, who shall say, that 
even the peculiarities of men's natures shall not, in some 
instances, be set aside in the course of a Divine and secret 
operation, which, touching the springs of action, and open* 



244 THE LIFE OF 

ing the sources of feeling, gives an intensity of energy to 
the .one, and a flow to the other, more eminently indicative 
of the finger of God in a work which his own glory, and 
the humility proper to man, require should be known 
and acknowledged as his work alone? Assuredly there 
is nothing in the reason of the case to fix the manner of 
producing such effects to one rule, and nothing in Scrip- 
ture. Instances of sudden conversion occur in the New 
Testament in sufficient number to warrant us to conclude, 
that this may be often the mode adopted by divine Wisdom, 
and especially in a slumbering age, to arouse attention to 
long-despised and neglected truths. The conversions at 
the day of pentecost were sudden, and, for any thing that 
appears to the contrary, they were real; for the persons so 
influenced were thought worthy to be " added to the 
Church.' ' Nor was it by the miracle of tongues that the 
effect was produced. If miracles could have converted 
them, they had witnessed greater than even that glorious 
day exhibited. The dead had been raised up in their sight, 
the earth had quaked beneath their feet, the sun had hid 
himself and made an untimely night, and Christ himself 
had arisen from a tomb sealed and watched. It was not 
by the impression of the miracle of tongues alone, but by 
that supervenient gracious influence which operated with 
the demonstrative sermon of Peter, after the miracle had 
excited the attention of his hearers, that they were 
"pricked in their hearts, and cried, Men and brethren, 
what shall we do?" 

The only true rule of judging of professed conversion is 
its fruits. The modes of it may vary from circumstances 
of which we are not the fit judges, and never shall be, 
till we know more of the mystic powers of mind, and of 
that intercourse which almighty God, in his goodness, 
condescends to hold with it. 

It is granted, however, that in such cases a spurious 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



£45 



feeling has been often mixed up with these genuine visita- 
tions; that some ardent minds, when even sincere, have 
not sufficiently respected the rules of propriety in their acts 
of worship; that some religious deception has taken place; 
that some persons have confounded susceptibility of feeling 
with depth of grace; that censoriousness and spiritual pride 
have displaced that humility and charity which must exist 
wherever the influence of the Spirit of God is really pres- 
ent; and that, in some cases, a real fanaticism has sprung 
up, as in the case of Gqprge Bell and his followers in Lon- 
don, at an early period of Methodism. But these are 
accidents — tares sown in the lield among the good seed, 
which were never spared by Mr. Wesley or his most judi- 
cious successors. In the early stages of their growth, 
indeed, and before they assumed a decided character, they 
were careful lest, by plucking them up, they should root 
out the good seed also; but both in Great Britain and in 
America, no extravagance has ever been encouraged by 
the authorities of either society, and no impoitance is 
attached to any thing but the genuine fruits of conversion. 

In the early part of 1770 we find Mr. Wesley, as usual, 
prosecuting his indefatigable labors in different parts of the 
kingdom, and every -where diffusing the influence of spirit- 
uality and zeal, and the light of a " sound doctrine. " His 
journals present a picture of unwearied exertion, such as 
was. perhaps, never before exhibited, and in themselves 
they form ample volumes of great interest, not only as a 
record of his astonishing and successful labors, but from 
their miscellaneous and almost uniformly instructive charac- 
ter. Xow he is seen braving the storms and tempests in 
his journeys, fearless of the snows of winter, and the heats 
of summer; then, with a deep susceptibility of all that is 
beautiful and grand in nature, recording the pleasures 
produced by a smiling landscape or by mountain scenery: 
here, turning aside to view some curious object of nature; 

21* 



246 



THE LIFE OF 



there, some splendid mansion of the great; showing at the 
same time in his pious and often elegant, though brief 
reflections, with what skill he made all things contribute to 
devotion and cheerfulness. Again, we trace him into his 
proper w r ork, preaching in crowded chapels, or to multi- 
tudes collected in the most public resorts in towns, or in 
the most picturesque places of their vicinity. Now he is 
seen by the side of the sick and dying, and then, sur- 
rounded with his societies, uttering his pastoral advices. 
\n interesting and instruciive ietter^frequently occurs; then 
h jet of playful and good-humored wit upon his persecutors 
or the stupidity of his casual hearers; occasionally, in spite 
of the philosophers, an apparition story is given as he 
heard it, and of which his readers are left to judge; and 
often we meet with a grateful record of providential es- 
capes, from the falls of his horses, or from the violence of 
mobs. Notices of books also appear, which are often 
exceedingly just and striking; always short and character- 
istic; and, as he read much on his journeys, they are very 
frequent. A few of these notices, in his journal of this 
year, taken without selection, may be given as a specimen: 

"I read with all the attention I was master of, Mr. 
Hutchinson's Life, and Mr. Spearman's Index to his Works. 
And I was more convinced than ever, 1. That he had not 
the least conception, much less experience, of inward re- 
ligion; 2. That an ingenious man may prove just what he 
pleases, by well-devised Scriptural etymologies, especially 
if he be in the fashion — if he affect to read the Hebrew 
without vowels; and, 3. That his whole hypothesis, philo- 
sophical and theological, is unsupported by any solid proof. 

"I sat down to read and seriously consider some of the 
writings of Baron Swedenborg. I began with huge preju- 
dice in his favor, knowing him to be a pious man, one of a 
strong understanding, of much learning, and one who 
thoroughly believed himself. But I could not hold out 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



247 



long. Any one of his visions puts his real character out 
of doubt. He is one of the most ingenious, lively, enter- 
taining madmen, that ever set pen to paper. But his 
waking dreams are so wild, so far remote both from Scrip- 
ture and common sense, that one might as easily swallow 
the stories of Tom Thumb, or Jack the Giant-killer. 

"I met with an ingenious book, the late Lord Lyttleton's 
'Dialogues of the Dead/ A great part of it I could 
heartily subscribe to, though not to every word. I believe 
Madam Guion was in several mistakes, speculative and prac- 
tical too; yet I would no more dare to call her, than her 
friend Archbishop Fenelon, 1 a distracted enthusiast.' She 
was undoubtedly a woman of very uncommon understand- 
ing, and of excellent piety. Nor was she any more 'a 
lunatic' than she was a 'heretic.' 

" Another of this lively writer's assertions is, 'Martin 
has spawned a strange brood of fellows, called Methodists, 
Moravians, Hutchinsonians, who are madder than Jack 
was in his worst days.' I would ask any one who knows 
what good breeding means, Is this language for a nobleman 
or for a porter? But let the language be as it may, is the 
sentiment just? To say nothing of the Methodists — 
although some of them, too, are not quite out of their 
senses — could his lordship show me in England many more 
sensible men than Mr. Gambold and Mr. Okeley? And yet 
both of these were called Moravians. Or could he point 
out many men of stronger and deeper understanding than 
Dr. Home and Mr. William Jones? — if he could pardon 
them for believing the Trinity — and yet both of these are 
Hutchinsonians. What pity is it that so ingenious a man, 
like many others gone before him, should pass so peremp- 
tory a sentence, in a cause which he does not understand! 
Indeed, how could he understand it? How much has he 
read upon the question? What sensible Methodist, Mora- 
vian, or Hutchinsonian, did he ever calmly converse with? 



248 



THE LIFE OF 



What does he know of them, but from the caricatures 
drawn by Bishop Lavington, or Bishop Warburton? And 
did he ever give himself the trouble of reading the an- 
swers to those warm, lively men? Why should a good- 
natured and a thinking man thus condemn whole bodies 
of men by the lump? In this I can neither read the gen- 
tleman, the scholar, nor the Christian." 

"I set out for London; and read over in the way that 
celebrated book, 'Martm Luther's Comment on the Epistle 
to the Galatians.' I was utcerly ashamed. How have I 
esteemed this book, only because I heard it so commended 
by others! or, at best, because I had read some excellent 
sentences, occasionally quoted from it! But what shall I 
say, now I judge for myself? now I see with my own 
eyes? Why, not only that the author makes nothing out, 
clears up not one considerable difficulty; that he is quite 
shallow in his remarks on many passages, and muddy and 
confused almost on all; but that he is deeply tinctured 
with mysticism throughout, and hence often dangerously 
wrong. To instance only in one or two points. How 
does he — almost in the words of Tauler — decry reason, 
right or wrong, as an irreconcilable enemy to the Gospel 
of Christ! Whereas, what is reason — the faculty so 
called — but the power of apprehending, judging, and dis- 
coursing? which power is no more to be condemned in the 
gross, than seeing, hearing, or feeling. Again, how blas- 
phemously does he speak of good works and of the law of 
God; constantly coupling the law with sin, death, hell, or 
the devil; and teaching, that Christ delivers us from them 
all alike! Whereas, it can no more be proved by Scrip- 
ture, that Christ delivers us from the law of God, than 
that he delivers us from holiness or from heaven. Here — 
I apprehend — is the real spring of the grand error of the 
Moravians. They follow Luther, for better for worse. 
Hence their 'No works, no law, no commandment/ But 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



249 



who art thou that 'speakest evil of the law, and judgest 
the law?' 

"I read over, and partly transcribed, Bishop Bull's 
'Harraonia Apostolica.' The position with which he sets 
out is this, 'that all good works, and not faith alone, are 
the necessarily previous condition of justification,' or the 
forgiveness of our sins. But in the middle of the treatise 
he asserts, 'that faith alone is the condition of justification;' 
'for faith/ says he, 'referred to justification, means all 
inward and outward good works.' In the latter end he 
affirms, 'that there are two justifications: and that only 
inward good works necessarily precede the former, but both 
inward and outward the latter. " 

Mr. Wesley meant this brief but just analysis to be 
Bishop Bull's refutation, and it is sufficient. 

"Looking for a book in our college library, I took down, 
by mistake, the Works of Episcopius; which opening on an 
account of the Synod of Dort, I believed it might be use- 
ful to read it through. But what a scene is here disclosed! 
I wonder not at the heavy curse of God, which so soon 
after fell on the Church and nation. What a pity it is, 
that the holy Synod of Trent, and that of Dort, did not 
sit at the same time! nearly allied as they were, not only 
as to the purity of doctrine, which each of them estab- 
lished, but also as to the spirit wherewith they acted; if 
the latter did not exceed. 

"Being in the Bodleian library, I lit on Mr. Calvin's 
account of the case of Michael Servetus; several of whose 
letters he occasionally inserts: wherein Servetus often 
declares in terms, ' I believe the Father is God, the Son is 
God, and the Holy Ghost is God.' Mr. Calvin, however, 
paints him such a monster as never was, an Arian, a blas- 
phemer, and what not; beside strewing over him his flow- 
ers of dog, devil, -swine, and so on, which are the usual 
appellations he gives to his opponents. But still he utterly 



260 



THE. LIFE OF 



denies his being the cause of Servetus' death. 'No/ 
says he, 'I only advised our magistrates, as having a right 
to restrain heretics by the sword, to seize upon and try 
that archheretic. But after he was condemned, I said not 
one word about his execution!' " 

The above may be taken as instances of his laconic 
reviews of books. 

Mr. Wesley's defense of the power he exercised in the 
government of the Methodist societies may also here be 
given; observing that it is easier, considering the circum- 
stances in which he was placed, to carp at it, than to find 
a solid answer. Few men, it is true, have had so much 
power; but, on the other hand, he could not have retained 
it in a perfectly- voluntary society, had he not used it mildly 
and wisely, and with a perfectly-disinterested and public 
spirit. 

"What is that power? It is a power of admitting into 
and excluding from the societies under my care; of choos- 
ing and removing stewards; of receiving or not receiving- 
helpers; of appointing them when, where, and how to help 
me, and of desiring any of them to confer with me when 
I see good. And as it was merely in obedience to the 
providence of God, and for the good of the people, that I 
at first accepted this power, which I never sought, so it 
is on the same consideration, not for profit, honor, or 
pleasure, that I use it at this day. 

" 'But several gentlemen are offended at your having so 
much power.' I did not seek any part of it. But when 
it was come unawares, not daring to bury that talent, I 
used it to the best of my judgment. Yet I never was fond 
of it. I always did, and do now, bear it as my burden, 
the burden which God lays upon me; and therefore I dare 
not lay it down. 

"But if you can tell me any one, or any five men, to 
whom I may transfer this burden, who can and will do just 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



251 



what I do now, I will heartily thank both them and you." 
(Wesley's Works.) 

This year — 1770 — is memorable in the history of Meth- 
odism, for having given birth to a long and very ardent 
controversy on the doctrines of Calvinism. It took its 
rise from the publication of the Minutes of the Confer- 
ence, in which it was determined, that, in some particulars 
then pointed out, the preachers had " leaned too much to 
Calvinism.'' This is easily explained. Mr. Whitefield, 
and Howell Harris, the early coadjutors of the Wesleys, 
became Calvinists; but the affection, which existed among 
this little band, was strong; and as they all agreed in 
preaching, what was at that time most needed, the doctrine 
of salvation by faith, "an agreement" was made at a very 
early period, between the Wesleys and Howell Harris, to 
forget all peculiarities of opinion as much as possible in 
their sermons, to use as far as they could, with a good 
conscience, the same phrases in expressing the points on 
which they substantially agreed, and to avoid controversy. 
Such an agreement shows the liberal feeling which existed 
among the parties; but it was not of a nature to be so 
rigidly kept as to give entire satisfaction. On these arti- 
cles of peace, we find, therefore, indorsed, at a subsequent 
period, in the handwriting of Mr. Charles Wesley, "Vain 
agreement." Mr. Wesley's anxiety to maintain unity of 
effort as well as affection with Mr. Whitefield, led him 
also, in 1743, to concede to his Calvinistic views, as far as 
possible; and he appears not to have been disposed to deny, 
though he says he could not prove it, that some persons 
might be unconditionally elected to eternal glory; but not 
to the necessary exclusion of any other from salvation. 
And he was then "inclined to believe" that there is a 
state attainable in this life, "from which a man can not 
finally fall." But he was subsequently convinced by 
the arguments of Mr. Thomas Walsh, that this was an 



252 



THE LIFE OF 



error.* These considerations will account for the existence 
of what Mr. Wesley called "a leaning to Calvinism/ ' both 
in himself, and among some of the preachers, and rendered 
a review of the case necessary, f Though the leaders had 
approached so near "the very edge of Calvinism'' on one 
side, and "of Antinomianism" also, with safety, it was 
not to be wondered at that others should overstep the line. 
Beside, circumstances had greatly changed. A strong 
tide of Antinomianism had set in, and threatened great 
injury to practical godliness throughout the land. Dr. 
Southey attributes this to the natural tendency of Method- 
ism; but here he shows himself only partially acquainted 
with the subject. The decline of religion among many of 
the Dissenting Churches, had scattered the seeds of this 
heresy all around them, though not without calling forth 
a noble testimony against it from some of their ablest min- 
isters; and when they began to feel the influence of the 
revival of piety in the last century, the tares sprung up 
with the plants of better quality. The Calvinism taught 
by Mr. Howell Harris, and Mr. Whitefield, was also per- 

* Mr. Walsh was received by Mr. Wesley as a preacher, in 1750, and 
died in 1759. The following is Mr. Wesley's character of him: "That 
blessed man sometimes preached in Irish, mostly in English; and wher- 
ever he preached, whether in English or Irish, the word was sharper 
than a two-edged sword. So that I do not remember ever to have known 
any preacher, who, in so few years as he remained upon earth, was 
an instrument of converting so many sinners from the error of their 
ways. By violent straining of his voice, he contracted a true pulmonary 
consumption, which carried him off. O what a man to be snatched away 
in the strength of his years! Surely thy 'judgments are a great deep!' 

"He was so thoroughly acquainted with the Bible, that if he was ques- 
tioned concerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek word in 
the New Testament, he would tell, after a little pause, not only how 
often one or the other occurred in the Bible, but also what is meant in 
every place. Such a master of Biblical knowledge I never knew before, 
and never expect to see again." 

f Mr. Wesley's Sermon on Imputed Righteousness is an instance of his 
anxiety to approach his Calvinistic brethren, in his modes of expression, 
as far as possible; and in this attempt he sometimes laid himself open to 
be misunderstood on both sides. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



253 



verted by many of their hearers to sanction the same error. 
Several of the evangelical clergy, likewise, who had no 
immediate connection with Mr. Wesley, were Calvinists of 
the highest grade; and as their number increased, their 
incautious statements of the doctrines of grace and faith, 
carried beyond their own intentions, became more mis- 
chievous. To show, however, that Antinomianism can 
graft itself upon other stocks beside that of the Calvinistic 
decrees, it was found also among many of the Moravians; 
and the Methodists did not escape. Wherever, indeed, 
the doctrine of justification by faith is preached, there is a 
danger, as St. Paul himself anticipated in his Epistle to 
the Romans, lest perverse, vain, and evil minds should 
pervert it to licentiousness; heavenly as it is in authority, 
and pure in its influence, when rightly understood. In 
fact, there is no such exclusive connection between the 
more sober Calvinistic theories of predestination, and this 
great error, as some have supposed. It is too often met 
with, also, among those who hold the doctrine of general 
redemption; though it must be acknowledged that, for the 
most part, such persons, at length, go over to predestina- 
rian notions, as affording, at least, some collateral confirm- 
ation of the solifidian theory. That Calvinistic opinions, 
in their various forms, were at this time greatly revived 
and diffused, is certain. The religious excitement produced 
gave activity to theological inquiries; and speculative 
minds, especially those who had some taste for meta- 
physical discussions, were soon entangled in questions of 
predestination, prescience, necessity, and human freedom. 
The views of Calvin on these subjects were also held by 
many, who, connecting them with vital and saving truths, 
were honored with great usefulness; and, as the Wesley an 
societies were often involved in these discussions, and in 
danger of having their faith unsettled, and their practical 
piety injured by those in whom Calvinism had begun to 

22 



254 



THE LIFE OF 



luxuriate into the ease and carelessness of Antinomian 
license, no subject at that period more urgently required 
attention. For this reason, Mr. Wesley brought it before 
his conference of preachers. The withering effects of 
this delusion were also strongly pointed out in his sermons, 
and were afterward still more powerfully depicted by the 
master pencil of Mr. Fletcher, in those great works to 
which he now began to apply himself, in order to stem 
the torrent. Dr. Southey has fallen into the error of 
imagining that Mr. Fletcher's descriptions of the ravages 
of Antinomianism were drawn from its effects upon the 
Wesley an societies; but that mistake arose from his not 
adyerting to the circumstance, that neither Mr. Wesley 
nor Mr. Fletcher confined their cares to these societies, but 
kept an equally watchful eye upon the state of religion 
in the land at large, and consequently in the Church of 
which they were ministers. The societies under Mr. Wes- 
ley's charge were, indeed, at no time more than yery 
partially affected by this form of error. Still, in some 
places they had suffered, and in all were exposed to dan- 
ger; and as Mr. Wesley regarded them, not only as a 
people giyen to him by God to preserve from error, but to 
engage to bear a zealous and steadfast testimony " against 
the eyils of the time," in eyery place he endeavored to 
prepare them for their warfare, by instructing them fully 
in the questions at issue. 

The Minutes of 1770 contained, therefore, the following 
passages: 

"We said, in 1744, 'We have leaned too much toward 
Calvinism.' Wherein? 

" 1. With regard to man's faithfulness. Our Lord him- 
self taught us to use the expression. And we ought never 
to be ashamed of it. We ought steadily to assert, on his 
authority, that if a man is not 'faithful in the unrighteous 
mammon,' God will not give 'him the true riches.' 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



255 



"2. Willi regard to 'working; for life.* This also our 
Lord has expressly commanded us. 'Labor/ ipydgsoOs, 
literally, 'work for the meat that endureth to everlasting 
life.' And, in fact, every believer, till he comes to glory, 
works for as well as from life. 

"3. We have received it as a maxim, that 'a man is to 
do nothing in order to justification/ Nothing can be more 
false. Whoever desires to find favor with trod should 
'cease from evil, and learn to do well.' Whoever repents 
should do 'works meet for repentance.' And if this is not 
in order to find favor, what does he do them for? 

"Review the whole affair. 

"1. Who of us is now accepted of God? 

"He that now believes in Christ, with a loving and 
obedient heart. 

"2. But who among those that never heard of Christ? 

"He that feareth God and worketh righteousness ac- 
cording to the light he has. 

"3. Is this the same with 'he that is sincere?' 

"Nearly, if not quite. 

"4. Is not this 'salvation by works?' 

"Not by the merit of works, but by works as a condition. 

"6. What have we then been disputing about for these 
thirty years? 

"I am afraid, about words. 

"7. The grand objection to one of the preceding prop- 
ositions is drawn from matter of fact. God does in fact 
justify those who, by their own confession, neither feared 
God nor wrought righteousness. Is this an exception to 
the general rule? 

"It is a doubt whether God makes any exception at all. 
But how are we sure that the person in question never did 
fear God and work righteousness? His own saying so is 
not proof: for we know how all that are convinced of sin 
undervalue themselves in every respect. 



256 



THE LIFE OF 



"8. Does not talking of a justified or a sanctified state 
tend to mislead men? almost naturally leading them to 
trust in what was done in one moment? Whereas we are 
every hour and every moment pleasing or displeasing to 
God, 'according to our works' — according to the whole 
of our inward tempers and our outward behavior." 

"That these were passages calculated to awaken suspi- 
cion, and that they gave the appearance of inconsistency 
to Mr. "Wesley's opinions, and indicated a tendency to run 
to one extreme, in ord^r to avoid another — an error which 
Mr. Wesley more generally avoided than most men — can 
not be denied. They, however, when fairly examined, 
expressed nothing bin what is found in substance in the 
doctrinal conversations at the conferences from 1744 to 
1747; but the sentiments were put in a stronger form, and 
were made to bear directly against the Antinomian opin- 
ions of the day. To "man's faithfulness" nothing surely 
could be reasonably objected; it is enjoined upon believers 
in the whole Gospel, and might have been known by the 
objectors to have been always held by Mr. Wesley, but so 
as necessarily to imply a constant dependence upon the 
influence of the Holy Spirit. That the rewards of eternity 
are also to be distributed in higher or lower degrees ac- 
cording to the obedient works of believers, yet still on a 
principle of grace, is a doctrine held by divines of almost 
every class, and is confirmed by many passages of Scrip- 
ture. To the Antinomian notion, that a man is to do 
nothing in order to justification, Mr. Wesley opposes the 
same sentiment which he held in 1744, that previously to 
justification men must repent, and, if there be opportunity, 
do works meet for repentance; and when he asks, "if 
they do them not in order to justification, what do they 
do them for?" — these words are far enough from inti- 
mating that such works are meritorious, although they are 
capable of being misunderstood. Repentance is indeed a 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



257 



condition of justification, as well as faith, but indirectly and 
remotely — " Repent ye and believe the Gospel;" and see- 
ing that Mr. Wesley, so expressly in the same page, shuts 
out the merit of works, no one could be justly offended 
with this statement — except as far as the phrase is con- 
cerned — who did not embrace some obvious form of prac- 
tical error. 

The doctrine of the acceptance of such heathens as 
"fear God and work righteousness," might be offensive to 
those who shut out all heathens, as such, from the mercies 
of God — a tenet, however, which is not necessarily con- 
nected with Calvinism; and it ought not to. have been 
objected to by others, unless Mr. Wesley had stated, as 
some of his opponents understood him to do, that "a 
heathen might be saved without a Savior." No such 
thought was ever entertained by him, as Mr. Fletcher 
observes in his defense; for he held that whenever a 
heathen is accepted, it is merely through the merits of 
Christ, although it is in connection with his "fearing God, 
and working righteousness/' "'But how comes he to 
see that God is to be feared, and that righteousness is his 
delight?' Because a beam of our Sun of righteousness 
shines in his darkness. All is therefore of grace; the 
light, the works of righteousness done by that light, and 
acceptance in consequence of them." (Fletcher's Works.) 

But when the Minutes went on to state that this shows 
that salvation is by works as a "condition, though not 
by the merit of works," the highest point of heresy was 
supposed to be reached. Yet from this charge, though 
it derived some color from a paradoxical mode of expres- 
sion not to be commended, Mr. Fletcher brings off his 
friend unhurt: 

"Our Church expresses herself more fully on this head 
in the Homily on Salvation, to which the article refers. 
'St. Paul,' says he, 'declares nothing [necessary] on the 

22* 



258 



THE LIFE OF 



behalf of man concerning his justification, but only a true 
and lively faith, and yet (N. B.) that faith does not shut 
out repentance, hope, love, [of desire when we are coming, 
lore of delight when we are come,] dread, and the fear of 
God, to be joined with it in every man that is justified; 
but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying; so 
that they be all present together in him that is justified, 
yet they justify not altogether.' This is agreeable to St. 
Peter's doctrine, maintained by Mr. Wesley. Only faith 
in Christ for Christians, and faith in the light of their 
dispensation for heathens, is necessary in order to accept- 
ance; but though faith only justifies, yet it is never alone; 
for repentance, hope, love of desire, and the fear of God, 
necessarily accompany this faith, if it be living. Our 
Church, therefore, is not at all against works proceeding 
from, or accompanying faith in all its stages. She grants, 
that whether faith seeks or finds its object, whether it 
longs for or embraces it, it is still a lively, active, and 
working grace. She is only against the vain conceit that 
works have any hand in meriting justification or 'pur- 
chasing salvation, which is what Mr. Wesley likewise 
strongly opposes. 

"If any still urge, 'I do not love the word condition/ 
I reply, it is no wonder; since thousands so hate the thing, 
that they even choose to go to hell, rather than perform it. 
But let an old worthy divine, approved by all but Crisp's 
disciples, tell you what we mean by condition: f An ante- 
cedent condition [says Mr. Flavel in his 'Discourse of 
Errors'] signifies no more than an act of ours, which, 
though it be neither perfect in any degree, nor in the least 
meritorious of the benefit conferred, nor performed in our 
own natural strength, is yet, according to the constitution 
of the covenant required of us, in order to the blessings 
consequent thereupon, by virtue of the promise; and, con- 
sequently, benefits and mercies granted in this order are 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



259 



and must be suspended by the donor, till it be performed. ' 
Such a condition we affirm faith to be, with' all that faith 
necessarily implies/' (Fletcher's Works.) 

The greatest stone of stumbling was, however, the re- 
marks on merit: 

"As to merit itself, of which we have been so dread- 
fully afraid: we are rewarded 'according to our works/ 
yea, 'because of our works.' How does this differ from 
'for the sake of our works?' And how differs this from 
secundum merita operant, 'as our works deserve?' Can 
you split this hair? I doubt I can not." 

The outcry of "dreadful heresy" raised against him, 
particularly on this article, was the more uncandid, be- 
cause by explaining the phrase secundum merita operum, to 
mean, as our works deserve, it was clear, especially taking 
the passage in connection with what he had previously 
stated, that he understood merit in that loose, and not 
perhaps always correct, sense in which it had often been 
used by several of the ancient fathers; and also that he 
was not speaking of our present justification, but of our 
final reward. But here Mr. Fletcher shall again be heard: 

"If Mr. Wesley meant, that we are saved by the merit 
of works, ahd not entirely by that of. Christ, you might 
exclaim against his proposition as erroneous; and I would 
echo back your exclamation. But as he flatly denies it in 
those words, 'Xot by the merit of works,' and has con- 
stantly asserted the contrary for above thirty years, we 
can not, without monstrous injustice, fix that sense upon 
the word merit in this paragraph. 

"Divesting himself of bigotry and party spirit, he gen- 
erously acknowledges truth even when it is held forth by 
his adversaries: an instance of candor worthy of our imi- 
tation! He sees that God offers and gives his children, 
nere on earth, particular rewards for particular instances 
of obedience. He knows that when a man is saved mer- 



260 



THE LIFE 01' 



itoriously by Christ, and conditionally by — or if you please, 
upon the terms of — the work of faith, the patience of hope, 
and the labor of love, he shall particularly be rewarded in 
heaven for his works: and he observes, that the Scriptures 
steadily maintain, we are recompensed according to our 
works, yea, because of our works. 

"The former of these assertions is plain from the para- 
ble of the talents, and from these words of our Lord, 
Matt, xvi, 27, 'The Son of man shall come in the glory 
of his Father, and reward every man according to his 
works;' unbelievers according to the various degrees of 
demerit belonging to their evil works — for some of them 
shall comparatively 'be beaten with few stripes;' and be- 
lievers according to the various degrees of excellence 
found in their good works; 'for as one star difFereth from 
another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the' 
righteous 'dead.' 

"If we detach from the word merit the idea of 'obliga- 
tion on God's part to bestow any thing upon creatures, 
who have a thousand times forfeited their comforts and 
existence' — if we take it in the sense we fix to it in a 
hundred cases; for instance this: 'A master may reward 
his scholars according to the merit of their exercises, or 
he may not; for the merit of the best exercise can nevei 
bind him to bestow a premium for it, unless he has prom- 
ised it of his own accord' — if we take, I say, the word 
merit in this simple sense, it may be joined to the words 
good works, and bear an evangelical meaning. 

"To be convinced of it, candid reader, consider, with 
Mr. Wesley, that ' God accepts and rewards no work but 
so far as it proceeds from his own grace through the 
Beloved.' Forget not that Christ's Spirit is the savor of 
each believer's salt, and that he puts excellence into the 
good works of his people, or else they could not be good. 
Remember, he is as much concerned in the good tempers, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY". 



words, and actions of his living members, as a tree is 
concerned in the sap, leaves, and fruit of the branches it 
bears, John xv, 5. Consider, I say, all this, and tell us 
whether it can reflect dishonor upon Christ and his grace 
to affirm, that as his personal merit — the merit of his holy 
life and painful death — ' opens the kingdom of heaven to 
all believers,' so the merit of those works which he ena- 
bles his members to do, will determine the peculiar degrees 
of glory graciously allotted to each of them." (Fletcher's 
Works.) 

Mr. Fletcher came forward to defend his venerable 
friend, on account of the great uproar which the Calvin- 
istic party had raised against him upon the publication of 
these minutes. The countess of Huntingdon had taken 
serious alarm and offense; and the Eev. Walter Shirley, 
her brother and chaplain, had written a circular letter to 
all the serious clergy, and several others, inviting them to 
go in a body to the ensuing conference, and "insist upon 
a formal recantation of the said minutes, and, in case of 
a refusal, to sign and publish their protest against them." 
Mr. Shirley and a few others accordingly attended the 
Bristol conference, where, says Mr. Wesley, "we had 
more preachers than usual in consequence of Mr. Shirley's 
circular letter. At ten on Thursday morning he came, 
with nine or ten of his friends; we conversed freely for 
about two hours: and, I believe, they were satisfied, that 
we were not such 'dreadful heretics' as they imagined, 
but were tolerably sound in the faith." 

The meeting was creditable to each party. Mr. Wes- 
ley acknowledged that the minutes were "not sufficiently 
guarded." This must be felt by all; they were out of his 
usual manner of expressing himself, and he had said the 
same truths often in a clearer, and safer, and even stronger 
manner. He certainly did not mean to alter his previous 
opinions, or formally to adopt other terms in which to 



262 



THE LIFE OF 



express them; and, therefore, to employ new modes of 
speaking, though for a temporary purpose, was not without 
danger, although they were capable of an innocent ex- 
planation. Even Mr. Fletcher confesses that the minutes 
wore "a new aspect, " and that at first they appeared to 
him " unguarded, if not erroneous." Mr. Wesley showed 
his candor in admitting the former; and to prevent all 
future misconstruction, he and the conference issued the 
following "Declaration," n :o which was appended a note 
from Mr. Shirley, acknowledcino* his mistake as to the 
meaning of the minutes: 

"Bristol, August 9, 1771. 

"Whereas the doctrinal points in the minutes of a con- 
ference held in London, August 7, 1770, have been un- 
derstood to favor 'justification by works:' now the Rev. 
John Wesley and others, assembled in conference, do de- 
clare that we had no such meaning; and that we abhor the 
doctrine of 'justification by works/ as a most perilous and 
abominable doctrine. And as the said minutes are not 
sufficiently guarded in the way they are expressed, we 
hereby solemnly declare, in the sight of God, that we have no 
trust or confidence but in the alone merits of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ for justification or salvation, either in 
life, death, or the day of judgment. And though no one 
is a real Christian believer — and consequently can not be 
saved — who doeth not good works, where there is time 
and opportunity, yet our works have no part in meriting 
or purchasing our justification, from first to last, either in 
whole or in part. 

' 'Signed by the Rev. Mr. Wesley and fifty -tL. *ee 
preachers." 

mr. Shirley's note. 
"Mr. Shirley's Christian respects wait on Mr. Wesley. 
The declaration agreed to in conference the 8th of August, 
1771, has convinced Mr. Shirley he had mistaken the 



REV. JOSS WESLEY. 



263 



meaning of the doctrinal points in the minutes of the 
conference held in London, August 7, 1770; and he hereby 
wishes to testify the full satisfaction he has in the said 
declaration, and his hearty concurrence and agreement 
with the same. 

"Mr. AVesley is at full liberty to make what use he 
pleases of this. August 10, 1771."* 

Mr. Fletcher had entitled his Defense of Mr. Wesley 
"The First Check to Antinomianism;" but he did not 
content himself with evangelizing the apparently legal 
minutes, and defending the doctrinal consistency and 

* This affair is capable of more illustration than it has received from 
Mr. Wesley's biographers hitherto. Mr. Shirley's circular letter was natu- 
rally resented by Mr. Wesley, as being- published before any explanations 
respecting the minutes had been asked from him their author; and also 
from its assuming- that Mr. S., and the clergy who might obey his sum- 
mons, had the right to come into the conference, and to demand a recanta- 
tion. Mr. Shirley, therefore, soon found, that he must approach in a more 
brotherly manner, or that Mr. Wesley and the conference would have no 
intercourse with him. This led Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Shirley to 
address explanatory letters to Mr. Wesley. " As the method of proceed- 
ing, as well a3 the terms in which we had delivered ourselves," says Mr. 
Shirley, "was objected to by many as by no means proper, and in sub- 
mission to the precept, 1 Give no offense to Jew or Gentile, or to the 
Church of God,' Lady Huntingdon and I wrote the following letters, 
which were delivered to Mr. Wesley the evening before the conference 
met." Lady Huntingdon says, 11 As you and your friends, and many 
others, have objected to the mode of the application to you in conference, 
as an arbitrary way of proceeding, we wish to retract what a more delib- 
erate consideration might have prevented," etc. Mr. Shirley's letter 
acknowledges 61 that the circular was too hastily drawn up, and improperly 
expressed; and therefore, for the offensive expressions in it, we desire we 
may be hereby understood to make every suitable submission to you." 
On this explanation, Mr. Shirley and his friends were invited by Mr. Wes- 
ley to come to the conference on the third day of its sitting. Mr. Shirley's 
published narrative thus proceeds: 11 To say the truth, I was pleased that 
the invitation came from Mr. Wesley, without any application made on 
our parts, that there might not be left the least room for censuring our 
proceedings as violent. On that day, therefore, I went thither, accom- 
panied with Rev. Mr. Glascot, Rev. Mr. Owen — two ministers officiating in 
Lady Huntingdon's chapels — John Lloyd, Esq., of Bath; Mr. James Ire- 
land, merchant, of Bristol: Mr. Winter, and two students belonging to 
Lady Huntingdon's college. 

M l shall only give you a brief detail of what passed, and rather the 



264 



THE LIFE OF 



orthodoxy of Mr. Wesley. He incidentally discussed va- 
rious other points of the quinquarticular controversy; and 
he, as well as Mr. Wesley, was quickly assailed by a 
number of replies not couched in the most courteous style. 

substance of what was spoken, than the exact words; omitting, likewise, 
man} r things of no great weight or consequence. 

"After Mr. Wesley had prayed, I desired to know whether Lady Hunt- 
ingdon's letter and mine to Mr. Wesley had been read to the conference. 
Being answered in the negative, I begged leave to read the copies of 
them; which was granted. I then said that I hoped the submission made 
was satisfactory to the gentlemen of the conference. This was admitted; 
but then it was urged, that as the offense given by the circular letter had 
been very public, so ought the letter of submission. I therefore readily 
consented to the publication of it, and have now fulfilled my promise. 
Mr. Wesley then stood up ; the purport of his speech was a sketch of his 
ministry from his first setting out to the present time; with a view-*— as I 
understood — to prove that he had ever maintained justification by faith, 
and that there was nothing in the minutes contrary thereto. He com- 
plained of ill treatment from many persons, that he apprehended had 
been under obligations to him; and said that the present opposition was 
not to the minutes, but to himself personally. In answer I assured them, 
in the most solemn manner, that, with respect to myself, my opposition was 
not to Mr. Wesle}*, or any particular person, but to the doctrines them- 
selves. And they were pleased thus far to give me credit. I then pro- 
ceeded to speak to the point; informed them of the great and general of- 
fense the minutes had given; that I had numerous protests and testimonies 
against them sent me from Scotland, and from various parts of these king- 
doms; that it must seem very extraordinary, indeed, if so many men of 
sense and learning should be mistaken, and that there was nothing really 
offensive in the plain, natural import of the minutes; that I believed they 
themselves — whatever meaning they might have intended — would allow 
that the more obvious meaning w T as reprehensible; and, therefore, I 
recommended to them, nay, I begged and entreated, for the Lord's sake, 
that they would go as far as they could with a good conscience, in giving 
the world satisfaction. I said I hoped they would not take offense — for I 
did not mean to give it — as my proposing to them a declaration which I 
had drawn up, wishing that something at least analogous to it might be 
agreed to. I then took the liberty to read it; and Mr. W^esley, after he had 
made some — not very material — alterations in it, readily consented to sign 
it; in which he was followed by fifty-three of the preachers in connection 
with him; there being only one or two that were against it. 

"Thus was this important matter settled. But one of the preachers — 
namely, Mr. Thomas Olivers — kept us a long time in debate; strenuously 
opposed the declaration; and to the last would not consent to sign it. He 
maintained that our second justification — that is, at the day of judgment — 
is by works; and he saw very clearly that for one that holds that tenet 
solemnly 1 to declare in the sight of God that he has no trust or confidence 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



265 



Mr. Fletcher's skill and admirable temper so fully fitted 
him to conduct the dispute which had arisen, that Mr. 
Wesley left the contest chiefly to him, and calmly pur- 
sued his labors; and the whole issued in a series of 

but in the alone merits of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for justifica- 
tion or salvation, either in life, death, or the day of judgment,' would be 
acting neither a consistent nor an upright part; for all the subtilties of 
metaphysical distinction can never reconcile tenets so diametrically oppo- 
site as these. But, blessed be God, Mr, Wesley, and fifty-three of his 
preachers, do not agree with Mr. Olivers in this material article; for it ap= 
pears, from their subscribing the declaration, that they do not maintain a 
second justification by works. 

"After the declaration had been agreed to, it was required of me, on 
my part, that I would make some public acknowledgment that I had mis- 
taken the meaning of the minutes. Here I hesitated a little; for though I 
was desirous to do every thing — consistently with truth and a good con- 
science — for the establishment of peace and Christian fellowship, yet I 
was very unwilling to give any thing under my hand that might seem to 
countenance the minutes in their obvious sense. But then, when I was 
asked by one of the preachers whether I did not believe Mr. Wesley to 
be an honest man, I was distressed on the other hand, lest, by refusing 
what was desired, I should seem to infer a doubt to Mr. Wesley's disad- 
vantage. Having confidence, therefore, in Mr. Wesley's integrity, who 
had declared he had no such meaning in the minutes as was favorable to 
justification by works, and considering that every man is the best judge 
of his own meaning, and has a right, so far, to our credit, and that, though 
nothing else could, yet the declaration did convince me, they had some 
other meaning than what appeared, I say — these things considered — I 
promised them satisfaction in this particular, and, a few days afterward, 
sent Mr. Wesley the following message, with which he was very well 
pleased : 

[Then follows Mr. Shirley's note as given above.] 

"Thus far all was well. The foundation was secured. And, with 
respect to lesser matters of difference, we might well bear with one 
another; and if either party should see occasion to oppose the other's pe- 
culiar opinion, it might be done without vehemence, and without using 
any reproachful terms. The whole was conducted with great u^cency on 
all sides. We concluded with prayer, and with the warmest indications 
of mutual peace and love. For my own part, believe me, I was perfectly 
sincere, and thought this one of the happiest, and most honorable days 
of my life." 

The whole conduct of Mr. Shirley, in this affair, affords a pleasing con- 
trast to that of the Hills, Toplady, and others, who soon rushed hot and 
reckless into the controversy. Mr. Shirley, it is true, complains, that after 
this adjustment Mr. Fletcher should have so severely attacked him in his 
five letters; but he appears never to have departed from the meekness of 
a Christian and the manners of a gentleman. 

23 



266 



THE LIFE OF 



publications, from the pen of the vicar of Madeley, which, 
as a tv hole, can scarcely be too highly praised or valued.* 
"While the language endures, they will operate as checks 
to Antinomianisra in every subtile form which it may as- 
sume, and present the pure and beautiful system of evan- 
gelical truth, as well guarded on the other hand against 
Pelagian self-sufficiency. The Rev. Augustus Toplady, 
Mr. — afterward Sir Richard — Hill, and his brother, the 
Rev. Rowland Hill, with the Rev. John Berridge, were his 
principal antagonists; but his learning, his acuteness, his 
brilliant talent at illustrating an argument, and, above all, 
the hallowed spirit in which he conducted the controversy, 
gave him a mighty superiority over his opponents; and 
although there will be a difference of opinion, according to 
the systems which different readers have adopted, as to the 
side on which the victory of argument remains, there can 
be none as to which bore away the prize of temper. 
Amidst the scurrilities and vulgar abuse of Mr. Toplady, 
otherwise an able writer, and a man of learning, and the 
coarse virulence or buffoonery of the Hills and Berridge, \ 

* It ought to be observed, that Mr. Fletcher's writings are not to be con- 
sidered, in every particular, as expressing the views of Mr. Wesley, and 
tiie body of Methodists, and that, though greatly admired among us, they 
are not reckoned among the standards of our doctrines. 

f The titles of several of the pieces, written by Toplady and others, 
such as "An old Fox tarred and feathered," "The Serpent and the 
Fox," "Pope John," etc., are sufficient evidences of the temper and man- 
ners of this band of controversialists. In what Rev. Rowland Hill calls 
" Some Gentle Strictures" on a sermon by Mr. Wesley, preached on lay- 
ing the foundation stone of the City Road Chapel, Mr. Wesley is subjected 
to certain not very gentle objurgations, which it would be too sickening a 
task to copy or to read. The Gospel Magazine, so called, was equally 
unmeasured in its abuse, and as vulgar: but, to do justice to all parties, 
the Calvinists even of that day disapproved of this publication, and it was 
given up. Even Mr. Rowland Hill appears to have incurred the displeas- 
ure of some of his brethren; for in a second edition of his "Gentle 
Strictures," he explains himself — awkwardly enough, certainly — that 
when he called Mr. Wesley "wretch," and "miscreant," they must re- 
member that "wretch" means "an unhappy person;" and "miscreant," 
"one whose belief is wrong!" We have, happily, no recent instances of 



REV. JOH.K WESLEY*. 



267 



it is refreshing to remark, in the writings of "the saintly 
Fletcher/ ' so fine a union of strength and meekness; an 
edge so keen, and yet so smooth; and a heart kept in such 
perfect charity with his assailants,, and so intent upon 'es- 
tablishing truth, not for victory, but for salvation. 

In this dispute Mr. Wesley wrote but little, and that 
chiefly in defense of his own consistency, in reply to Mr. 
Hill. His pamphlets also are models of temper, logical 
and calm, but occasionally powerfully reproving; not so 
much as feeling that he had received abuse and insult, as 
holding it his duty to bring the aggressor to a due sense 
of his own misdoings. The conclusion of his first reply 
to Mr. Hill is a strong illustration: 

"Having now answered the queries you proposed, suffer 
me, sir, to propose one to you; the same which a gentle- 
man of your own opinion proposed to me some years since: 
'Sir, how is it that as soon as a man comes to the knowl- 
edge of the truth, it spoils his temper?' That it does 
so I had observed over and over, as well as Mr. J. had. 
But how can we account for it? Has the truth — so Mr. J. 
termed what many love to term the doctrine of free grace — 
a natural tendency to spoil the temper? To inspire pride, 
haughtiness, superciliousness? To make a man 'wiser in 
his own eyes than seven men that can render a reason?' 
Does it naturally turn a man into a cynic, a bear, a Top- 
lady? Does it at once set him free from all the restraints 
of good-nature, decency, and good manners? Can not a 
man hold distinguishing grace, as it is called, but he must 
distinguish himself for passion, sourness, bitterness? Must 

equally unbrotherly and unchristian temper in connection with this con- 
troversy, except iu the bitter and unsanctined spirit of Bogue and Ben- 
nett's History of the Dissenters. The two doctors, however, were in the 
habit of declining the merit of the passages on Methodism, in favor of 
each other; and to which of them the honor of their authorship is due, 
has never yet, I believe, been ascertained. " Where there is shame," 
says Dr. Johnson, "there may in time be virtue." 



268 



THE LIEE OF 



a man, as soon as he looks upon himself to be an absolute 
favorite of Heaven, look upon all that oppose him as Dia- 
bolonians — as predestinated dogs of hell? Truly, the mel- 
ancholy instance now before us would almost induce us to 
think so. For who was of a more amiable temper than 
Mr. Hill, a few years ago? When I first conversed with 
him in London, I thought I had seldom seen a man of 
fortune who appeared to be of a more humble, modest, 
gentle, friendly disposition. And yet this same Mr. H., 
when he has once been grounded in the knowledge of the 
truth, is of a temper as totally different from this, as light 
is from darkness! He is now haughty, supercilious, dis- 
daining his opponents, as unworthy to be set with the dogs 
of his flock! He is violent, impetuous, bitter of spirit! in 
a word, the author of the Review! 

"0, sir, what a commendation is this of your doctrine? 
Look at Mr. Hill the Arminian! The loving, amiable, 
generous, friendly man. Look at Mr. Hill the Calvinist! 
Is it the same person? this spiteful, morose, touchy man? 
Alas, what has the knowledge of the truth done? What 
a deplorable change has it made? Sir, I love you still; 
though I can not esteem you, as I did once. Let me 
entreat you, if not for the honor of God, yet for the honor 
of your cause, avoid, for the time to come, all anger, all 
spite, all sourness and bitterness, all contemptuous usage 
of your opponents, not inferior to you, unless in fortune. 
0 put on again bowels of mercies, kindness, gentleness, 
long-suffering; endeavoring to hold, even with them that 
differ from you in opinion, the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace!" 

This controversy, painful as it was in many respects, 
and the cause of much unhallowed joy to the profane wits 
of the day, who were not a little gratified at this exhibition 
of what they termed " spiritual gladiatorship," has been 
productive of important consequences in this country. It 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



269 



showed to the pious and moderate Calvinists how well the 
richest views of evangelical truth could be united with 
Arminianism; and it effected, by its bold and fearless 
exhibition of the logical consequences of the doctrines or 
the decrees, much greater moderation in those who still 
admitted them, and gave birth to some softened modifica- 
tions of Calvinism in the age that followed — an effect which 
has remained to this day. The disputes on these subjects 
have, since that time, been less frequent, and more tem- 
perate; nor have good men so much labored to depart to 
the greatest distance from each other, as to find a ground 
on which they could make the nearest approaches. This 
has been especially the case between the Methodists and 
the evangelical Dissenters. Of late a Calvinism of a higher 
and sterner form has sprung up among a certain sect of 
the clergy of the Church of England; though some of them, 
whatever their private theory may be, feel that these points 
are not fit subjects for the edification of their congrega- 
tions in public discourses. Of Calvinism since the period 
of this controversy the Methodist preachers and societies 
have been in no danger; so powerful and complete was its 
effect upon them. At no conference, since that of 1770, 
has it been necessary again to ask, "Wherein have we 
leaned too much to Calvinism?" There has been, indeed, 
not in the body, but in some of its ministers occasionally, 
a leaning to what is worse than Calvinism — to a sapless, 
legal, and philosophizing theology. The influence of the 
opinions of the majority of the preachers has always, 
however, counteracted this; and the true balance between 
the extremes of each system, as set up in the doctrinal 
writings of Mr. Wesley, has been of late years better pre- 
served than formerly. Those writings are, indeed, more 
read and better appreciated in the connection, than at 
some former periods; and perhaps at the present time they 
exert a more powerful influence than they ever did over 

23* 



270 THE LIFE OF 

the theological views of both preachers and people. To 
this the admirably-complete, correct, and elegant editioa 
of Mr. Wesley's Works, lately put forth by the labor 
and judgment of Rev. Thomas Jackson, will still farther 
contribute. Numerous valuable pieces on different sub- 
jects, which had been quite lost to the public, have beer* 
recovered; and others, but very partially known, have 
been collected. 

In the midst of all these controversies and cares, the 
societies continued to spread and flourish under the influ- 
ence of the zeal and piexy of the preachers, animated by 
the ceaseless activity and regular visits of Mr. Wesley, 
who, though now upward of seventy years of age, seemed 
to possess his natural strength unabated.* His thoughts 
were, however, frequently turning with anxiety to some 
arrangement for the government of the connection after 
his death; and not being satisfied that the plan he had 
sketched out a few years before would provide for a case 
of so much consequence, he directed his attention to Mr. 
Fletcher, and warmly invited him to come forth into the 
work, and to allow himself to be introduced by him to the 
societies and preachers as their future head. Earnestly 
as this was pressed, Mr. Fletcher could not be induced to 
undertake a task to which, in his humility, he thought 
himself inadequate. This seems to have been his only 
objection; but had he accepted the offer, the plan would 

* In his seventy-second year he thus speaks of himself, u This being 
my birthday, the first day of my seventy-second year, I was considering 
How is this that I find just the same strength as I did thirty years ago? 
that my sight is considerably better now, and my nerves firmer, than they 
were then? that I have none of the infirmities of old age, and have lost 
several I had in my youth? The grand cause is the good pleasure of 
God, who doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. The chief means are, 1. My 
constantly rising at four for about fifty years ; 2. My generally preaching 
at five in the morning, one of the most healthy exercises in the world; 3. 
My never traveling less, by sea or land, than four thousand, five hundred 
miles in a year.'* 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



271 



hare failed, as Mr. Fletcher was a few years afterward 
called into another world. From Mr. Charles Wesley, 
who had become a family man, and had nearly given up 
traveling, he had no hope as a successor; and even then a 
farther settlement would have been necessary, because he 
could not be expected long to survive his brother. Still, 
therefore, this important matter remained undetermined. 
At the time the overture was made to Mr. Fletcher, the 
preachers who were fully engaged in the work amounted 
to one hundred and fifty; and the societies, in Great 
Britain and Ireland, to upward of thirty-five thousand, 
exclusive of the regular hearers. This rapid and constant 
enlargement of the connection hightened the urgency of 
the question of its future settlement; and it is pleasing to 
remark, that Mr. Charles Wesley at length entered into 
this feeling, and offered his suggestions. In spite of the 
little misunderstandings which had arisen, he maintained 
a strong interest in a work of which he had been so 
eminent an instrument; and this grew upon him in his lat- 
ter years. Thus we have seen him springing into activity 
upon the sickness of his brother, before mentioned, and 
perfonning for him the full "work of an evangelist/' by 
traveling in his place; and, upon Mr. Wesley's recovery, 
his labors were afforded locally to the chapels in London 
and Bristol, to the great edification of the congregations, 
In one of his latest letters to his brother, entering into the 
question of a provision for the settlement of the future 
government of the connection, he says, "I served West- 
street Chapel on Friday and Sunday. Stand to your own 
proposal: 'Let us agree to differ.' I leave America and 
Scotland to your latest thoughts and recognitions; only 
observing now, that you are exactly right. Keep your 
authority while you live; and, after your death, detur dig- 
niori — let it be given to the worthiest individual — or 
rather, dignioribus— -to the worthiest individuals. You 



272 



THE LIFE OF 



can not settle the succession. You ' can not divine how 
God will settle it." 

Thus Charles gave up as hopeless the return to the 
Church, and suggested the plan which his brother adopted, 
to devolve the government, not indeed upon one, but upon 
many whom he esteemed " the worthiest," for age, expe- 
rience, talent, and moderation. 



CHAPTER XII. 

In 1775 Mr. Wesley, during a tour in the north of 
Ireland, had a dangerous sickness, occasioned by sleeping 
on the ground, in an orchard, in the hot weather, which 
he says he had been " accustomed to do for forty years 
without ever being injured by it." He was slow to admit 
that old age had arrived, or he trusted to triumph long 
over its infirmities. The consequence in this case, how- 
ever, was that, after manfully struggling with the incipient 
symptoms of the complaint, and attempting to throw them 
oif by reading, journeying, and preaching, he sunk into a 
severe fever, from which, after lying insensible, for some 
days, he recovered with extraordinary rapidity, and re- 
sumed a service which, extended as it had been through 
so many years, was not yet to be terminated. While in 
London the next year, the following incident occurred: 

An order had been made by the house of lords, "That 
the commissioners of his Majesty's excise do write circular 
letters to all persons whom they have reason to suspect to 
have plate, as also to those who have not paid regularly 
the duty on the same," etc. In consequence of this order, 
the accountant-general for household plate sent Mr. Wes- 
ley a copy of the order, with the following letter: 

"Reverend Sir, —As the commissioners can not doubt 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



273 



but you have plate for which you have hitherto neglected 
to make an entry, they have directed me to send you the 
above copy of the lords' order, and to inform you they 
expect that you forthwith make due entry of all your plate, 
such entry to bear date from the commencement of the 
plate duty, or from such time as you have owned, used, 
had., or kept any quantity of silver plate, chargeable by 
the act of Parliament; as in default hereof, the board will 
be obliged to signify your refusal to their lordships. 

e fJS. B. An immediate answer is desired/' 

Mr. Wesley replied as follows: 

"Sir, — I have two silver tea-spoons at London, and two 
at Bristol. This is all the plate which I have at present; 
and I shall not buy any more while so many around me 
want bread. 1 am, sir, your most humble servant, 

"John Wesley." 

Xo doubt the commissioners of his Majesty's excise 
thought that the head of so numerous a people had not 
forgotten his own interests, and that the interior of his 
episcopal residence in London was not without superfluities 
and splendor. 

The bishop of Sodor and Man having written a pastoral 
letter to all the clergy within his diocess, to warn their 
flocks against Methodism, and exhorting them to present 
all who attended its meetings in the spiritual courts, and 
to repel every Methodist preacher from the sacrament, Mr. 
Wesley hastened to the island, and in May, 1777, landed 
at Douglas. In every place he appears to have been cor- 
dially received by all ranks; and his prompt visit probably 
put a stop to this threatened ecclesiastical violence, for no 
farther mention is made of it. The societies in the island 
continued to flourish; and, on Mr. Wesley's second visit, 
he found a new bishop of a more liberal character. 

The Foundery having become too small for the comfort- 
able accommodation of the congregation in that part of 



274 



THE LIFE OF 



London, and being also gloomy and dilapidated, a new 
chapel had been erected. "November 1st," says Mr. 
Wesley, "was the day appointed for opening the new 
chapel in the City Road. It is perfectly neat, but not 
fine, and contains far more than the Foundery; I believe, 
together with the morning chapel, as many as the Taber- 
nacle. Many were afraid that the multitudes, crowding 
from all parts, would have occasioned much disturbance; 
but they were happily disappointed — there was none at 
all — all was quietness, decency, and order. I preached 
on part of Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the tem- 
ple; and both in the morning and afternoon God was 
eminently present in the midst of the congregation." 
(Journal.) 

Here the brothers agreed to officiate as often as possi- 
ble till the congregation should be settled. Two resident 
clergymen were also employed at this chapel as curates, 
for reading the full Church service, administering the 
sacraments, and burying the dead. But Mr. Charles Wes- 
ley took some little offense at the liberty given to the 
preachers to officiate in his brother's absence, and when 
he himself could not supply. His letter of complaint pro- 
duced, however, no change in his brother's appointments, 
nor was it likely. Mr. Wesley knew well that his own 
preaching at the new chapel, and the ministrations of the 
other clergymen, during the hours of service in the parish 
church, without a license from the bishop, or the acknowl- 
edgment of his spiritual jurisdiction, was just as irregular 
an affair, considered ecclesiastically, as the other. The 
City Road Chapel, with its establishment of clergy, service 
in canonical hours, and sacraments, was, in the eye of 
the law, as much as any Dissenting place of worship 
in London, a conventicle; though, when tried by a better 
rule, it was eminently, in those days of power and sim- 
plicity, "none other than the house of God, and the gate 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



276 



of heaven," to devout worshipers. An influence of a very 
extraordinary kind often rested upon the vast congregations 
assembled there; thousands were trained up in it for the 
kingdom of God; and the society exhibited a greater num- 
ber of members, perhaps, than any other, except that in 
Bristol, who, for intelligence, deep experience in the things 
of God, stability, meekness of spirit, and holiness of life, 
were at once the ornaments of Methodism, and an influ- 
ential example to the other societies of the metropolis. 

In 1778 Mr. Wesley began to publish a periodical work, 
which he entitled, "The Arminian Magazine; consisting 
of Extracts and Original Treatises on Universal Redemp- 
tion." He needed a medium through which he could 
reply to the numerous attacks made upon him; and he 
made use of it farther to introduce into general circulation 
several choice treatises on Universal Redemption, and to 
publish selections from his valuable correspondence with 
pious persons. He conducted this work while he lived; 
and it is still continued by the conference, under the title 
of the "Wesley an Methodist Magazine," on the same 
general principles as to its theology, though on a more 
enlarged plan. 

A dispute of a somewhat serious aspect arose in the 
following year, out of the appointment of a clergyman by 
Mr. Wesley to preach every Sunday evening in the chapel 
at Bath. It was not probable that the preachers of the 
circuit should pay the same deference to a strange clergy- 
man, recently introduced, as to Mr. Wesley; but when 
this exclusive occupation of the pulpit on Sunday evenings 
was objected to by them and part of the society, Mr. 
Wesley, supported by his brother, who had accompanied 
him to Bath, stood firmly upon his right to appoint when 
and where the preachers should officiate, as a fundamental 
part of the compact between them; and the assistant 
preacher, Mr. M'Nab, was suspended till "he came to 



276 



THE LIFE OF 



another mind." As Mr. M'Nab, who had thus fallen under 
Mr. Wesley's displeasure, was supported by many of the 
other preachers, a stormy conference was anticipated. To 
this meeting Mr. Wesley, therefore, foreseeing that his 
authority would be put to the trial, strongly invited his 
brother, in order that he might assist him with his 
advice. At first Mr. Charles Wesley declined, on the 
ground that he could not trust to his brother's vigor and 
resolution. He, however, attended, but when he saw that 
Mr. Wesley was determined to heal the breach by conces- 
sion, he kept entire silence, The offending preacher was 
received back without censure, and, from this time, Dr. 
Whitehead thinks that Mr. Wesley's authority in the con- 
ference declined. This is not correct; but that authority 
was exercised in a different manner. Many of the preach- 
ers had become old in the work, and were men of great 
talents, tried fidelity, and influence with the societies 
These qualities were duly appreciated by Mr. Wesley, who 
now regarded them more than formerly, when they were 
young, and inexperienced, as his counselors and coad- 
jutors. It was an eminent proof of Mr. Wesley's practical 
wisdom, that he never attempted to contend with circum- 
stances not to be controlled; and from this time he placed 
his supremacy no longer upon authority, but upon the 
influence of wisdom, character, and age, and thus con- 
firmed rather than diminished it. Had Mr. Charles 
Wesley felt sure of being supported by his brother with 
what he called " vigor," it is plain, from his letter on the 
occasion, that he would have stood upon the alternative 
of the unconditional submission of all the preachers, or a 
separation. His brother chose a more excellent way, and 
no doubt foresaw, not only that if a separation had been 
driven on by violence, it would have been an extensive 
one, but that among the societies which remained the 
same process would naturally, and necessarily, at some 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



27? 



future time take place, and so nothing be ultimately gained, 
to counterbalance the immediate mischief. The silence 
maintained by Mr. Charles "Wesley in this conference did 
him also great honor. He suspected "the warmth of his 
temper;" he saw that, as his brother was bent upon con- 
ciliation, any thing he could say would only endanger the 
mutual confidence between him and his preachers, and he 
held his peace. He himself believed that a formal sepa- 
ration of the bod}' of preachers and people from the Church 
would inevitably take place after his brother's death, and 
thought it best to bring on the crisis before that event. 
"You," says he to his brother, "think otherwise, and I 
submit," The fact has been, that no such separation as 
he feared, that is, separation on such principles, and under 
such feelings of hostility to the Established Church, has 
yet taken place. 

The following letter written by Mr. Wesley in 1782, to 
a nobleman high in office, shows how much his mind was 
alive to every thing which concerned the morals and relig- 
ion of the country, and is an instance of the happy man- 
ner in which he could unite courtesy with reproof without 
destroying its point, A report prevailed that the ministry 
designed to embody the militia, and exercise them on a 
Sunday; 

"My Lord, — If I wrong your lordship I am sorry for 
it; but I really believe your lordship fears God; and I hope 
your lordship has no unfavorable opinion of the Christian 
revelation. This encourages me to trouble your lordship 
with a few lines, which otherwise I should not take upon 
rne to do, 

"Above thirty years ago, a motion was made in Parlia- 
ment, for raising and embodying the militia, and for exer- 
cising them, to save time, on Sunday. When the motion 
was like to pass, an old gentleman stood up and said, 
'Mr. Speaker, I have one objection to this: I believe an 

24 



278 



THE LIFE OF 



old book, called the Bible.' The members looked at one 
another, and the motion was dropped. 

"Must not all others, who believe the Bible, have the 
very same objection? And from what I have seen, I can 
not but think, these are still three-fourths of the nation. 
Now, setting religion out of the question, is it expedient 
to give such a shock to so many millions of people at 
once? And certainly it would shock them extremely: it 
would wound them in a very tender part. For would not 
they, would no^ all England, would not all Europe, con- 
sider this as a virtual repeal of the Bible? And would 
not all serious persons say, 'We have little religion in the 
land now; but by this step we shall have less still. For 
wherever this pretty show is to be seen, the people will 
flock together, and will lounge away so much time before 
and after it, that the churches will be emptier than they 
are already!' 

"My lord, I am concerned for this on a double account. 
First, because I have personal obligations to your lordship, 
and would fain, even for this reason, recommend your 
lordship to the love and esteem of all over whom I have 
any influence. Secondly, because I now reverence your 
lordship for your office's sake; and believe it to be my 
bounden duty to do all that is in my little power, to ad- 
vance your lordship's influence and reputation. 

"Will your lordship permit me to add a word in my old- 
fashioned way? I pray Him that has all power in heaven 
and earth, to prosper all your endeavors for the public 
good, and am, my lord, your lordship's willing servant, 

"John Wesley." 

In 1783 Mr. Wesley paid a visit to Holland, having 
been pressed to undertake this journey by a Mr. Ferguson, 
formerly a member of the London society, who had made 
acquaintance with some pious people, who, having read 
Mr. Wesley's Sermons, were desirous of seeing him, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



279 



The following are extracts from his journal; and they 
will be read with pleasure, both as exhibiting his activity 
at so advanced an age, and as they present an interesting 
picture of his intercourse with a pious remnant in several 
parts of that morally-deteriorated country: 

" Wednesday, June 11. — I took coach with Mr. Brack- 
enbury, Broadbent, and Whitefield, and in the evening we 
reached Harwich. I went immediately to Dr. Jones, who 
received me in the most affectionate manner. About nine 
in the morning we sailed, and at nine on Friday, 13th, 
landed at Helvoetsluys. Here we hired a coach for Briel; 
but were forced to hire a wagon also, to carry a box, which 
one of us could have carried on his shoulders. At Briel 
we took a boat to Rotterdam. We had not been long there 
when Mr. Bennet, a bookseller, who had invited me to his 
house, called for me. But as Mr. Loyal, the minister of 
the Scotch congregation, had invited me, he gave up his 
claim, and went with us to Mr. Loyal's. I found a friendly, 
sensible, hospitable, and, I am persuaded, a pious man. 

" Saturday 14. — I had much conversation with the two 
English ministers, sensible, well-bred, serious men. These, 
as well as Mr. Loyal, were very willing I should preach in 
their churches; but they thought it would be best for me 
to preach in the episcopal church. By our conversing 
freely together many prejudices were removed, and all our 
hearts seemed to be united together. 

"Sunday 15. — The episcopal church is not quite so 
large as the chapel in West-street: it is very elegant both 
without and within. The service began at half past nine. 
Such a congregation had not often been there before. I 
preached on, ' God created man in his own image. ' The 
"people 'seemed all, but their attention, dead.' In the 
afternoon the church was so filled, as — they informed me — 
it had not been for these fifty years. I preached on, ' God 
hath given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son/ 



280 



THE LIFE OF 



I believe God applied it to many hearts. Were it only for 
this hour, I am glad I came to Holland. 

"Monday 16. — We set out in a track-skuit for the 
Hague: by the way, we saw a curiosity — the gallows 
near the canal surrounded with a knot of beautiful trees! 
so the dying man will have one pleasant prospect here, 
whatever befalls him hereafter. 

"At eleven we came to Delft, a large, handsome town; 
where we spent an hour at a merchant's house; who, as 
well as his wife, a very agreeable woman, seemed both to 
fear and to love God. Aiterward we saw the great 
church, I think nearly, if not quite, as long as York 
Minster. It is exceedingly light and elegant within, and 
every part is kept exquisitely clean. 

"When we came to the Hague, though we had heard 
much of it, we were not disappointed. It is indeed beau- 
tiful beyond expression. Many of the houses are exceed- 
ingly grand, and are finely intermixed with water and 
wood; yet not too close, but so as to be sufficiently ven- 
tilated by the air. 

"Being invited to tea by Madam de Vassenaar — one of 
the first quality in the Hague — I waited upon her in the 
afternoon. She received us with that easy openness and 
affability, which is almost peculiar to Christians and per- 
sons of quality. Soon after came ten or twelve ladies 
more who seemed to be of her own rank — though dressed 
quite plainly — and two most agreeable gentlemen: one 
of whom, I afterward understood, was a colonel in the 
prince's guards. After tea I expounded the three first 
verses of the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the 
Corinthians: Captain M. interpreted, sentence by sentence.! 
I then prayed, and Colonel V. after me. I believe this 
hour was well employed. 

"Tuesday 17.— We dined at Mrs. L.'s, in such a 
family as I have seldom seen. Her mother, upward of 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



281 



seventy, seemed to be continually rejoicing in God her 
Savior. The daughter breathes the same spirit; and her 
grandchildren, three little girls and a boy, seem to be all 
love. I have not seen four such children together in Eng- 
land. A gentleman coming in after dinner, I found a par- 
ticular desire to pray for him. In a little while he melted 
into tears, as indeed did most of the company. 

"Wednesday 18. — In the afternoon Madam de Vasse- 
naar invited us to a meeting at a neighboring lady's house. 
I expounded Gal. vi, 14, and Mr. M. interpreted as before. 

" Thursday 19. — We took boat at seven. Mrs. L., and 
one of her relations, being unwilling to part so soon, bore 
us company to Leyden, a large and populous town, but 
not so pleasant as Rotterdam. In the afternoon we went 
on to Haerlem, where a plain good man and his wife 
received us in a most affectionate manner. At six we 
took boat again: as it was filled from end to end, I was 
afraid we should not have a very pleasant journey. After 
Mr. Ferguson had told the people who we were, we made 
a slight excuse, and sung a hymn: they were all attention. 
We then talked a little, by means of our interpreter, and 
desired that any of them who pleased would- sing. Four 
persons did so, and sung well: after awhile we sung again. 
So did one or two of them: and all our hearts were 
strangely knit together, so that when we came to Am- 
sterdam, they dismissed us with abundance of blessings. 

"Friday 20. — At five in the evening we drank tea at 
a merchant's, Mr. G.'s, where I had a long conversa- 
tion with Mr. de H v one' of the most learned as well as 
popular ministers in the city; and I believe— what is far 
more important — he is truly alive to God. He spoke 
Latin well, and seemed to be one of a strong understand- 
ing, as well as of an excellent spirit. In returning to our 
inn, we called at a stationer's, and though we spent but 
a few minutes, it was enough to convince us of his strong 

24* 



282 



THE LIFE OF 



affection, even to strangers. What a change does the 
grace of God make in the heart! Shyness and stiffness 
are now no more! 

"Sunday 22. — I went to the New Church, so called 
still, though four or five hundred years old. It is larger, 
higher, and better illuminated than most of our cathe- 
drals. The screen that divides the church from the choir 
is of polished brass, and shines like gold. I understood 
the psalms that were sung, and the text, well, and a 
little of the sermon, which Mr. de H. delivered with great 
earnestness. At two I began the service at the English 
church, an elegant building, about the size of West-street 
Chapel; only it has no galleries, nor have any of the 
churches in Holland. I preached on Isaiah Iv, 6, 7, and 
I am persuaded many received the truth in the love 
thereof. 

"After service I spent another hour at Mr. Y.'s. Mrs. 
V. again asked me abundance of questions concerning 
deliverance from sin, and seemed a great deal better sat- 
isfied with regard to the great and precious promises. 
Thence we went to Mr. B., who had lately found peace 
with God. He was full of faith and love, and could 
hardly mention the goodness of God without tears. His 
wife appeared to be of the same spirit, so that our hearts 
were soon knit together. From thence we went to another 
family, where a large company were assembled; but all 
seemed open to receive instruction, and desirous to be 
altogether Christians. 

"Wednesday 25. — We took boat for Haerlem. The 
great church here is a noble structure, equaled by few 
cathedrals in England, either in length, breadth, or hight: 
the organ is the largest I ever saw, and is said to be the 
finest in Europe. Hence we went to Mr. Van K.'s, whose 
wife was convinced of sin, and brought to God, by reading 
Mr. Whitefield's Sermons. 



REV. J OILS WESLEY. 



283 



"Here we were at home. Before dinner we took a 
walk in Haerlem wood. It adjoins to the town, and is 
cut out in many shady walks, with lovely vistas shooting 
out every way. The walk from Hague to Scheveling is 
pleasant; those near Amsterdam more so; but these ex- 
ceed them all. 

"We returned in the afternoon to Amsterdam, and in 
the evening took leave of as many of our friends as we 
could. How entirely were Ave mistaken in the Hollanders, 
supposing them to be of a cold, phlegmatic, unfriendly 
temper! I have not met with a more warmly-affectionate 
people in all Europe! Xo, not in Ireland! 

"Thursday 26. — Our friends having largely provided us 
with wine and fruits for our little journey, we took boat in 
a lovely morning for Utrecht, with Mr. Van K.'s sister, 
who in the wav gave us a striking account. 'In that 

JO o 

house,' said she, pointing to it as we went by, ''my 
husband and I lived; and that church adjoining it, was 
his church. Five years ago, Ave were sitting together, 
being in perfect health, when he dropped down, and in a 
quarter of an hour died. I lifted up my heart and said, 
Lord, thou art my husband 'now; and found no will but 
his.' This was a trial worthy of a Christian: and she 
has ever since made her word good. We were scarcely 
got to our inn at Utrecht v/hen Miss L. came; I found her 
just such as I expected. She came on purpose from her 
father's country house, where all the family were. I 
observe of all the pious people in Holland, that, without 
any rule but the word of God, they dress as plainly as 
Miss March did formerly, and Miss Johnson does now! 
And considering the vast disadvantage they are under, 
having no connection with each other, and being under no 
such discipline at all as we are, I wonder at the grace of 
God that is in them, 

" Saturday 28.— I have this day lived fourscore jears; 



284 



THE LIFE OF 



and by the mercy of God, my eyes are not waxed dim, 
and what little strength of body or mind I had thirty 
years since, is just the same as I have now. God grant 
I may never live to be useless. Rather may I 

'My body with my charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live.' 

"Sunday 29. — At ten I began the service in the English 
church in Utrecht. I believe all the English in the city 
were present, and forty or fifty Hollanders. I preached 
on the 13th of the First of Corinthians, I think as search- 
ingly as ever in my life. Afterward a merchant invited 
me to dinner; for six years he had been at death's door 
by an asthma, and was extremely ill last night; but this 
morning, without any visible cause, he was well, and 
across the city to the church. He seemed to be deeply 
acquainted with religion, and made me promise, if I came 
to Utrecht again, to make his house my home. 

"In the evening, a large company of us met at Miss 
L.'s, where I was desired to repeat the substance of my 
morning sermon. I did so, Mr. Toydemea — the professor 
of law in the university — interpreting it sentence by sen- 
tence. They then sung a Dutch hymn, and we an English 
one. Afterward Mr. Regulet, a venerable old man, spent 
some time in prayer for the establishment of peace and 
love between the two nations. 

"Tuesday, July 1. — I called on as many as I could of 
my friends, and we parted with much affection. We then 
hired a yacht, which brought us to Helvoetsluys, about 
eleven the next day. At two we went on board; but the 
wind turning against us, we did not reach Harwich till 
about nine on Friday morning. After a little rest, we pro- 
cured a carriage, and reached London about eleven at 
night. 

"I can by no means regret either the trouble or expense 
which attended this little journey. It opened me a way 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



286 



into, as it were, a new world, where the land, the build- 
ings, the people, the customs, were all such as I had 
never seen before; but as those with whom I conversed 
were of the same spirit with my friends in England, I was 
as much at home in Utrecht and Amsterdam, as in Bristol 
and London/ ' 

That provision for the stability and the government of 
the connection, after his death, which had been to Mr. 
Wesley a matter of serious concern for several years, was 
accomplished in 1784, and gave him, whenever he subse- 
quently adverted to the subject, the greatest satisfaction. 
From this time he felt that he had nothing more to do, 
than to spend his remaining life in the same spiritual la- 
bors in which he had so long been engaged; and that he 
had done all that a true prudence required, to provide for 
the continuance and extension of a work which had so 
strangely enlarged under his superintendence. 

This settlement was effected by a legal instrument, 
enrolled in chancery, called "A Deed of Declaration, " in 
which one hundred preachers, mentioned by name, were 
declared to be "the conference of the people called Meth- 
odists.' ' By means of this deed, a legal description was 
given to the term conference, and the settlement of the 
chapels upon trustees was provided for: so that the ap- 
pointment of preachers to officiate in them should be 
rested in the conference, as it had heretofore been in Mr. 
Wesley. The deed also declares how the succession and 
identity of the yearly conference is to be continued, and 
contains various regulations as to the choice of a president 
and secretary, the filling up of vacancies, expulsions, etc. 
Thus "the succession, a s it was called in Mr. Charles 
Wesley's letter, above quoted, was provided for; and the 
conference, with its president, chosen annually, came into 
the place of the founder of the connection, and has so 
continued to the present day. As the whole of the 



286 



THE LIFE OF 



preachers were not included in the deed, and a few who 
thought themselves equally entitled to be of the hundred 
preachers who thus formed the legal conference, were ex- 
cepted, some dissatisfaction arose; but as all the preachers 
were eligible to be introduced into that body, as vacancies 
occurred, this feeling was but partial, and soon subsided.* 
All the preachers in full connection were also allowed to 
vote in the conference; and subsequently, those who were 
not of the hundred, but had been in connection a certain 
number of years, were permitted, by their votes, to put the 
president into nomination for the confirmation of the legal 
conference. Thus all reasonable ground for mistrust and 
jealousy was removed from the body of the preachers at 
large; and with respect to the hundred preachers them- 
selves, the president being chosen annually, and each being- 
eligible to that honor, efficiency of administration was 
wisely connected with equality. The consequence has 
been, that the preachers have generally remained most 
firmly united by affection and mutual confidence, and that 
few serious disputes have ever arisen among them, or have 
extended beyond a very few individuals. Ecclesiastical his- 
tory does not, perhaps, present an instance of an equal num- 
ber of ministers brought into contact so close, and called so 
frequently together, for the discussion of various subjects, 
among whom so much general unanimity, both as to doc- 

* "Messrs. John Hampson, sen., and John Hampson, jr., his son, Wil- 
liam Eel Is, and Joseph Pilmoor, with a few other traveling preachers, 
were greatly offended that their names were not inserted in the deed. By 
Mr. Fletcher's friendly efforts, a partial reconciliation was effected be- 
tween them and Mr. Wesley; but it was of short continuance. Soon after 
the conference, 1784, Mr. Hampson, senior, became an independent minis- 
ter; but being old and infirm, and the people poor among whom he la- 
bored, he was assisted out of the preachers' fund while he lived. He died 
in the year 1795. Mr. Hampson, jr., procured ordination in the Estab- 
lished Church, and got a living in Sunderland, in the north of England. 
Mr. Eells also left the connection, and, some time after, joined Mr. Atiay 
at Dewsbury; and Mr. Pilmoor went to America." (Myles.) 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



287 



trines and points of discipline, has prevailed, joined with so 
much real good-will and friendship toward each other, for 
so great a number of years. This is the more remarkable, 
as, by their frequent changes from station to station, oppo- 
site interests and feelings are very often brought into con- 
flict. The final decisions of the conference on their ap- 
pointment to these stations, generally the most perplexing- 
part of its annual business, are, however, cheerfully or 
patiently submitted to, from the knowledge that each has 
of the public spirit with which that body is actuated, and 
the frank and brotherly manner in which all its proceedings 
are conducted. The order of proceeding in the business 
of the conference is the same as in the days of Mr. Wes- 
ley. It admits candidates for the ministry, on proper 
recommendation from the superintendents and district 
meetings; examines those who have completed their pro- 
bation of four years, and receives the approved into full 
connection, which is its ordination; investigates, without 
any exception, the character and talents of those who are 
already in connection year by year; appoints the stations 
of the year ensuing; sends additional preachers to new 
places; receives the reports of the committees appointed to 
manage and distribute various funds; reviews the state of 
the societies; and issues an annual pastoral address. At 
the time of the meeting of the conferences, beside the 
Sunday services, public worship is held early in the morn- 
ing, and in the evening of every day except Saturday, which 
is usually attended by great multitudes. The business of 
each conference, exclusive of that done in committees, 
which meet previously, occupies, on the average, about a 
fortnight in every year. Were it not for the district meet- 
ings, composed of the preachers and the stewards of a 
number of circuits, or stations, in different parts of the 
kingdom — an arrangement which was adopted after Mr. 



288 



THE LIFE OF 



Wesley's death— the business of the conference would 
require a much longer time to transact; but in these meet- 
ings much is prepared for its final decision. 

In this important and wise settlement of the government 
of the connection by its founder, there appears but one 
regulation which seems to controvert that leading maxim 
to which he had always respect; namely, to be guided by 
circumstances in matters not determined by some great 
principle. I allude to the proviso which obliges the con- 
ference not to appoint any preacher to the same chapel for 
more than three years successively, thus binding an itin- 
erant ministry upon the societies for ever. Whether this 
system of changing ministers be essential to the spiritual 
interests of the body or not, or whether it might not be 
usefully modified, will be matters of opinion; but the point 
ought, perhaps, to have been left more at liberty."* 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The state in which the separation of the United States 
from the mother country left the Methodist American 
societies, had become a matter of serious concern to Mr. 
Wesley, and presented to him a new case, for which it was 

* [With the most respectful deference for the judgment of our beloved 
author, whose Methodistical orthodoxy can so rarely even be questioned, 
we must beg leave to say that in our humble opinion this very proviso in 
Mr. Wesley's Deed of Declaration, for the permanent establishment of the 
fundamental principles by which the conference should ever thereafter be 
governed, was one of the wisest measures in the whole instrument; and in 
this opinion., we greatly mistake if ninety-nine hundredths, at least, of the 
whole American Methodist Episcopal body do not accord. The great in 
convenience of this system to itinerant ministers themselves, and the conse- 
quent temptation to modify or to depart from it, we well know; and so did 
Mr. Wesley. His own inclination from youth, he often declared, was to 
saunter among academic shades, and be a philosophical sluggard, rather 
than an itinerant preacher. He knew that similar temptations, with the 



"REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



289 



imperative to make some provision. This, however, could 
not be done but by a proceeding which he foresaw would 
lay him open to much remark, and some censure from the 
rigid English Episcopalians. But with him, the principle 
of making every thing indifferent give place to the neces- 
sity of doing good or preventing evil, was paramount; and 
when that necessity was clearly made out, he was not a 
man to hesitate. The mission of Messrs. Boardman and 
Pilmoor to America has been already mentioned. Two 
years afterward, in 1771, Mr. Wesley sent out Messrs. As- 
bury and Wright; and in 1773, Messrs. Rankin and Shad- 
ford, In 1777 the preachers in the different circuits in 
America had amounted to forty, and the societies had also 
greatly increased. These were scattered in towns and set- 
tlements so distant that it required constant and extensive 
traveling from the preachers to supply them with the word 

enjoyments of domestic life, etc., would increase in their enticing power, 
as Methodism itself should increase, and the circumstances both of the 
people and of the preachers become improved. And believing-, as he 
firmly did, that an itinerant ministry was essential to the most rapid and 
extensive spread of the Gospel, and to the salvation of the greatest number 
of souls, till time shall end, he hence, in conformity with this conviction, 
made this unalterable principle in the economy of which he was the 
founder. And has not all our experience attested his wisdom? Mr. W at- 
son, we know, says no more than that "perhaps" the point ought to have 
been left more at liberty; and is by no means to be understood, we are 
persuaded, as being in favor of a change, even if the liberty were pos- 
sessed. Indeed, other denominations are now beginning both to see the 
incomparable efficiency of the itinerant system, and to act upon it — not 
only by the establishment of itinerant missions, but of regular circuits, 
very much on our plan. We wish them God speed. But let us not retro- 
g:ade while others advance. Rather, let us give the more earnest heed 
that none take our crown — that we lose not the things we have already 
wrought, but receive a full reward. It is the glory of reviving this apos- 
tolical system that sheds its brightest luster on the name and the memory 
of Wesley. May it be that of his successors to perpetuate it, and, in order 
thereto, to keep themselves beyond the reach of even temptation to do 
otherwise! If in this note we seem to dissent in any measure from an in- 
cidental suggestion of our excellent author, we have the satisfaction, on the 
other hand, to be sustained by the judgment and wisdom of Mr. Wes- 
ley. — American Edit.! 



25 



290 



THE LIFE OF 



of God.* The two last-mentioned preachers returned, 
after employing themselves on the mission for about five 
years; and Mr. Asbury, a true itinerant, who in this 
respect followed in America the unwearied example of 
Mr. Wesley, gradually acquired a great and deserved influ- 
ence, which, supported as it was by his excellent sense, 
moderating temper, and entire devotedness to the service 
of God, increased rather than diminished to the end of a 
protracted life. The American preachers, like those in 
England, were at first restrained by Mr. Wesley from 
administering either of the sacraments; but when, through 
the war, and the acquisition of independence by the states, 
most of the clergy of the Church of England had left the 
country, neither the children of the members of the Meth- 
odist societies could be baptized, nor the Lord's supper 
administered among them, without a change of the original 
plan. Mr. Asbury's predilections for the former order of 
things prevented him from listening to the request of the 
American societies to be formed into a regular Church, and 
furnished with all its spiritual privileges; and a division 
had already taken place among them. This breach, how- 
ever, Mr. Asbury had the address to heal; and at the peace 
he laid the whole case before Mr. Wesley. The result will 
be seen in the following letter: 

"To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in Nortic 
America. 

" Bristol, September 10, 1784. 
"By a very uncommon train of providences, many of the 
provinces of North America are totally disjoined from their 
mother country, and erected into independent states. The 

* [Messrs. Board man and Pilmoor returned to England in 1774; Messrs. 
Rankin and Rodda in 1777; and Mr. Shadford in 1778. Mr. Pilmoor 
came to America again after the Revolutionary war, took orders in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, and died, at an advanced age, in Philadel 
phia Mr. Watson states, in a preceding note, that Mr. Pilmoor was one 
of those few itinerant preachers who were much offended because his 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



291 



English government has no authority over them, either 
civil or ecclesiastical, any more than over the states of 
Holland. A civil authority is exercised over them, partly 
by the Congress, partly by the provincial assemblies. But 
no one either exercises or claims any ecclesiastical authority 
at all. In this peculiar situation, some thousands of the 
inhabitants of these states desire my advice; and, in com- 
pliance with their desire, I have drawn up a little sketch. 

"Lord King's account of the primitive Church con- 
vinced me, many years ago, that bishops and presbyters 
are the same order, and, consequently, have the same right 
to ordain. For many years I have been importuned, from 
time to time, to exercise this right, by ordaining part of 
our traveling preachers; but I have still refused, not only 
for peace' sake, but because I was determined, as little as 
possible, to violate the established order of the National 
Church to which I belonged. 

"But the case is widely different between England and 
North America. Here there are bishops who have a legal 
jurisdiction. In America there are none, neither any 
parish ministers, so that, for some hundred miles together, 
there is none either to baptize or to administer the Lord's 
supper. Here, therefore, my scruples are at an end; and 
I conceive myself at full liberty, as I violate no order, and 
invade no man's right, by appointing and sending laborers 
into the harvest. 

"I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Fran- 
cis Asbury to be joint superintendents over our brethren 
in North America, as also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas 
Yasey to act as eiders among them, by baptizing and 

name was not inserted in Mr. Wesley's Deed of Declaration, constituting 
the legal conference. This, in all probability, had a principal influence in 
his coming to America again, and taking orders in the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. We believe, however, that he always continued friendly with 
our body, and lived and died an evangelical and highly-respected minis 
ter. — American Edit.] 



292 



THE LIFE OF 



administering the Lord's supper. And I have prepared 3 
liturgy, little differing from that of the Church of Eng- 
land — I think the best constituted national Church in the 
world — which I advise all the traveling preachers to use 
on the Lord's day, in all the congregations, reading the 
litany only on Wednesdays and Fridays, and praying ex- 
tempore on all other days. I also advise the elders to 
administer the supper of the Lord on every Lord's day. 

"If any one will point out a more rational and Scrip- 
tural way of feeding and guiding those poor sheep in the 
wilderness, I will gladly embrace it. At present I can not 
see any better method than that I have taken. 

"It has, indeed, been proposed to desire the English 
bishops to ordain part of our preachers for America. But 
to this I object, 1. I desired the bishop of London to 
ordain only one, but could not prevail; 2. If they con- 
sented, we know the slowness of their proceedings; but 
the matter admits of no delay; 3. If they would ordain 
them now, they would likewise expect to govern them. 
And how grievously would this entangle us! 4. As our 
American brethren are now totally disentangled both from 
the state and from the English hierarchy, we dare not 
entangle them again either with the one or the other. 
They are now at full liberty simply to follow the Scrip- 
tures and the primitive Church. And we judge it best 
that they should stand fast in that liberty wherewith God 
has so strangely made them free. John Wesley." 

Two persons were thus appointed as superintendents or 
bishops, and two as elders, with power to administer the 
sacraments, and the American Methodists were formed 
into a Church, because they could no longer remain a so- 
ciety attached to a colonial establishment which then had 
ceased to exist. The propriety and even necessity of this 
step is sufficiently apparent; but the mode adopted exposed 
Mr. Wesley to the sarcasms of his brother, who was not 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



292 



a convert to his opinion as to the identity of the order of 
bishops and presbyters; and to all High Churchmen the 
proceeding has had the appearance of great irregularity. 
The only real irregularity, however, has been generally 
overlooked, while a merely- apparent one has been made 
the chief subject of animadversion. The true anomaly 
was, that a clergyman of the Church of England should 
ordain, in any form, without separating from that Church, 
and formally disavowing its authority; and yet, if its spir- 
itual governors did not choose to censure, and disown him 
for denying the figment of the uninterrupted succession, 
which he openly said " he knew to be a fable;" for main- 
taining that bishops and priests were originally one order 
only — points, let it be observed, which perhaps but few 
Churchmen will now, and certainly but few at that time, 
would very seriously maintain, so decisive is the evidence 
of Scripture and antiquity against them, and so completely 
was the doctrine of the three orders given up by the 
founders of the English Church itself;* nor, finally, for 

* U I am not ashamed of the room and office which I have given to me 
by Christ to preach his Gospel; for it is the power of God, that is to say, 
the elect organ or instrument ordained by God, and endued with such 
virtue and efficacy, that it is able to give, and administer effectually, ever- 
lasting life to all those that will believe and obey to the same. 

11 Item. That this office, this power and authority, was committed and 
given by Christ and his apostles to certain persons only, that is to say, to 
priests and bishops whom they did elect, call and admit thereto, by their 
prayers, and imposition of their hands. 

u The truth is, there is no mention made of any degrees or distinctions 
in orders, but only of deacons Or ministers, and of priests or bishops" 
A DECLARATION MADE*OF THE FUNCTIONS AND DIVINE INSTITUTION OF 
BISHOPS AND PRIESTS, Regno Hen. [in the reign of Henry] VIH, circiter 
[about] A. D. 1537-40. 

This declaration was signed by Cromwell, the vicar-general, Cranmer 
and Holgate, the archbishops, with many of their suffragans, together 
with other persons intituled, 

li JSacrce Theologies, Juris Ecclesiastici et Civilis, Professores" [Pro- 
fessors of Divinity and of Ecclesiastical and Civil Law.] 

Archbishop Usher's plan for comprehending the Presbyterians and 
Episcopalians in the time of Charles I, was also founded upon the prin- 
ciple of bishops and presbyters being one order. 

25* 



294 



THE LIFE OF 



proceeding to act upon that principle by giving orders; it 
would be hard to prove that he was under any moral 
obligation to withdraw from the Church. The bishops 
did not institute proceedings against him, and why should 
he formally renounce them altogether? It was doubtless 
such a view of his liberty, in this respect, that made him 
say on this occasion, in answer to his brother, "I firmly 
believe that I am a Scriptural i7tL($xo7tos as much as any man 
in England, or in Europe; for the uninterrupted succession 
I know to be a fable, which no man ever did or can prove. 
But this does, in no wise, interfere with my remaining in 
the Church of England; from which I have no more 
desire to separate than I had fifty years ago." 

The point which has been most insisted upon is the ab- 
surdity of a priest ordaining bishops. But this absurdity 
could not arise from the principle which Mr. "Wesley had 
adopted, namely, that the orders were identical and the 
censure, therefore, rests only upon the assumption, that 
bishops and priests were of different orders, which he 
denied. He never did pretend to ordain bishops in the 
modern sense, but only according to his view of primitive 
episcopacy. Little importance, therefore, is to be attached 
to Mr. Moore's statement, (Life of Wesley,) that Mr, 
Wesley having named Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury simply 
superintendents, he was displeased when, in America, they 
took the title of bishops. The only objection he could 
have to the name was, that from long association it was 
likely to convey a meaning beyond his own intention. 
But this was a matter of mere prudential feeling, confined 
to himself: so that neither are Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury to 
be blamed for using that appellation in Mr. Wesley's sense, 
which was the same as presbyter as far as order was con- 
cerned, nor the American societies — as they have sometimes 
inconsiderately been — for calling themselves, in the same 
view, "The American Methodist Episcopal Church;' since 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



295 



their episcopacy is founded upon the principle of bishops 
and presbyters being of the same degree — a more extended 
office only being assigned to the former, as in the primitive 
Church. For though nothing can be more obvious than 
that the primitive pastors are called bishops, or pres- 
byters indiscriminately in the ~New Testament, yet at an 
early period those presbyters were, by way of distinction, 
denominated bishops, who presided in the meetings of the 
presbyters, and were finally invested with the government 
of several Churches, with their respective presbyteries; 
so that two offices were then, as in this case, grafted upon 
the same order. Such an arrangement was highly proper 
for America, where many of the preachers were young, 
and had also to labor in distant and extensive circuits, 
and were, therefore, incapable of assisting, advising, or 
controlling each other. A traveling episcopacy, or super- 
intendency, was there an extension of the office of elder 
or presbyter, but it of course created no other distinction; 
and the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church have 
in practice as well exemplified the primitive spirit, as in 
principle they were conformed to the primitive discipline. 
Dr. Coke was only an occasional visitant in America, and 
though in the sense of office he was a bishop there, when 
he returned home, as here he had no such office, so he 
used no such title, and made no such pretension. Of this 
excellent man, it ought here to be said, that occasional 
visits to America could not satisfy his ardent mind; he 
became the founder and soul of the Methodist missions in 
various parts of the world, first under the direction of 
Mr. Wesley, and then in conjunction with the conference; 
and by his voyages, travels, and labors, he erected a 
monument of noble, disinterested zeal and charity, which 
will never be obliterated.* But Mr. Asbury remained 

* Dr. Coke connected himself with Mr. W esley in 1776, as stated by 
the latter in his journal: <l Being at Kingston, near Taunton, I found a 



296 



THE LIFE OF 



the preaching, traveling, self-denying bishop of the Amer- 
ican societies, till afterward others were associated with 
him, plain and simple in their manners as the rest of their 
brethren, and distinguished from them only by "labors 
more abundant." 

It was thus by absurdly confounding episcopacy in the 
modern acceptation, and in Mr. Wesley's view, that a 
good deal of misplaced wit was played off on this occa- 
sion; and not a little bitterness was expressed by many. 
He, however, performed a great and a good work, and not 
only provided for the spiritual wants of a people who 
indirectly had sprung from his labors, but gave to the 
American Church a form of administration admirably 
suited to a new and extensive empire, and under which 
the societies have, by the Divine blessing, prospered be- 
yond all precedent. Some letters passed between him 
and Mr. Charles Wesley on the subject of the American 
ordinations. The first, written by Charles, was warm and 
remonstrative; the second, upon receiving his brother's 
calm answer, was more mild, and shows, that he was less 
afraid of what his brother had done for America, than 
that Dr. Coke, on his return, should form the Methodists 
of England into a regular and separate Church also! The 
concluding paragraph of this letter is, however, so af- 
fecting, so illustrative of that oneness of heart which no 
difference of opinion between the brothers could destroy, 
that it would be unjust to the memory of both, not to 
insert it: 

"I thank you for your intention to remain my friend. 
Herein my heart is as your heart. Whom God hath 
joined, let no man put asunder. We have taken each 

clergyman, Dr. Coke, late gentleman commoner of Jesus College, in Ox- 
ford, who came twenty miles on purpose. I had much conversation with 
him, and a union then began, which, I trust, shall never end." His name 
did not appear on the minutes till the year 1778. In that year he was ap 
pointed to labor in London. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



297 



other for better for worse, till death do us — part? no: 
but eternally unite. Therefore, in the love which never 
faileth, I am, 

"Your affectionate friend and brother, 

" C; Wesley." 
Some time after this, Mr. Wesley appointed several of 
the English preachers, by imposition of hands, to admin- 
ister the sacraments to the societies in Scotland. There 
the English establishment did not extend, and a necessity 
of a somewhat similar kind existed, though not of so 
pressing a nature as in America. He, however, steadily 
objected to give this liberty, generally, to his preachers 
in England:- and those who administered the sacraments 
in Scotland were not permitted to perform the same office 
in England upon their return. The reason why he refused 
to appoint in the same manner, and for the same purpose, 
for England is stated in the letter above given. He was 
satisfied of his power, as a presbyter, to ordain for such 
an administration; but he says, "I have still refused, not 
only for peace' sake, but because I was determined as 
little as possible to violate the established order of the 
National Church to which I belonged." This was a pru- 
dent principle most sincerely held by him; and it explains 
his conduct in those particulars for which he has been 
censured by opposite parties. When it could not be 
avoided, without sacrificing some real good, he did violate 
"the established order," thinking that this order was in 
itself merely prudential. When that necessity did not 
exist, his own predilections, and the prejudices of many 
members of his societies, enforced upon him this absti- 
nence from innovation. It may, however, be asked, in 
what light Mr. Wesley's appointments to the ministry, in 
the case of his own preachers, ought to be viewed. That 
they were ordinations* to the work and office of the min- 
istry, can not be reasonably and Scriptu rally doubted; 



298 



THE LIFE OF 



and that they were so in his own intention, we have before 
shown from his own minutes. It was required of them, 
as early as 1746, to profess to be " moved by the Holy 
Ghost, and to be called of God to preach." This pro- 
fessed call was to be tested by their piety, their gifts, and 
their usefulness; all which points were investigated; and 
after probation they were solemnly received by prayer 
"to labor with him in the Gospel;" and from that time 
were devoted wholly to their spiritual work,* including 
the pastoral care of societies. Here was ordination, though 
without imposition of hands, which, although an impressive 
ceremony, enters not, as both the Scriptures and the nature 
of the thing itself point out, into the essence of ordination; 
which is a separation of men, by ministers, to the work of 
the ministry by solemn prayer. This was done at every 
conference, by Mr. Wesley, who, as he had, as early as 
1747, given up the uninterrupted succession, and the dis- 
tinct order of bishops as a fable, left himself, therefore, at 
liberty to appoint to the ministry in his own way. He 
made, it is true, a distinction at one time between the 
primitive offices of evangelists or teachers, and pastors, as 
to the right of giving the sacraments, which he thought 
belonged to the latter only; but as this implied that the 
primitive pastors had powers which the primitive evangel- 
ists, who ordained them, had not, it was too unsupported a 
notion for him long to maintain. (See Moore's Life of 
Wesley, book viii, chap, ii.) Yet, had this view of the case 
been allowed, the preachers were not mere teachers, but 
pastors in the fullest sense. They not only taught, but 
guided, and managed the societies; receiving members, 
excluding members, and administering private, as well as 
public, admonitions; and if they were constituted teachers 

* It is observable, that in the conference of 1768 he enjoined abstinence 
from all secular things upon them, both on the Scriptural principle, 1 Tin 
iv, 13, and on the ground that the Church, *' in her office of ordination 
required this of ministers* 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



299 



and pastors by his ordination, without the circumstance of 
the imposition of hands, it is utterly impossible to conceive 
that that ceremony conveyed any larger right, as such, to 
administer the sacraments, in the case of the few he did 
ordain in that manner for Scotland and America. As to 
them it was a form of permission and appointment to exer- 
cise the right. His appointments to- the ministry every 
conference necessarily conveyed all the rights of a pastor, 
because they conveyed the pastoral office; but still it did 
not follow that all the abstract rights of the ministry thus 
conveyed to the body of the preachers, should be actually 
used. It was not imperative upon them to exercise all their 
functions; and he assumed no improper authority, as the 
father and founder of the connection, to determine to what 
extent it was prudent to exercise them, provided he was 
satisfied that the sacraments were not put out of the power 
of the societies to observe. He exercised this suspending 
authority even over those preachers whom he appointed to 
give the sacraments in Scotland, by prohibiting them from 
administering in the English societies, over which they 
became pastors. So little difference did his ordination by 
imposition of hands make in their case, even in his own 
estimation.'* It was, when it followed the usual mode of 
introducing candidates into the ministry, a mere form of 
permission to exercise a previous right in a particular 
place, and a solemn designation to this service according to 
a liturgical form which he greatly admired; but the true 
ordination of those who were so set apart to administer the 
sacraments to the ministry itself, was the same as that of 
the rest of their brethren, and took place at the same time. 
Thus, in Mr. "Wesley's strongest language to Mr. Charles 
Perronet and the other preachers who thought it their duty 

* When a few of the preachers received ordination from a Greek bishop, 
then in England, and from whom he was falsely reported himself to have 
sought consecration, he would not suffer them to administer, although he 
did not doubt that the Greek was a true bishop. 



300 



THE LIFE OF 



to administer, lie places his objection upon the decisive 
ground of his thinking it " a sin;" but not from their want 
of true ordination, to which he makes no allusion;* but he 
thought it sinful, because it would be injurious to the work 
of God, and so contrary to his word and will. That it 
was not in his view "a sin," for want of mere imposition 
of hands, is clear from the facts, that, in one case, he gave 
to one of the preachers leave to baptize and give the sacra- 
ment in particular circumstances, although he had no other 
ordination than his being " received into full connection" 
at the conference like the rest, and allowed two others, 
Mr. Highfield, in England, and Mr. Myles, in Dublin, to as- 
sist him in giving the sacrament, to the great offense of the 
Church people there, f That the original designation of 
the preachers to the ministry was considered by the confer- 
ences after his death — when they were obliged, in order to 
meet the spiritual wants and Scriptural demands of the 
people, to administer the Lord's supper to the societies in 
England — as a true and full ordination to the whole office 
of the Christian ministry, is clear from their authorizing 
the preachers to give the sacraments, when requested by 
the societies, without reordination for this purpose, al- 
though they had Mr. Wesley's Presbyterian ordination by 

* As early as 1756, he says to some of the preachers, " You think it is a 
duty to administer. Do so, and therein follow your own conscience.'* 
That is, they were at liberty to leave him ; but not a word about the inva 
lidity of their appointment to the whole work of the ministry. 

f Mr. Wesley's innovations on Church order in Dublin appear, from 
several of his letters, to have produced somewhat outrageous attacks upon 
him from several quarters in that city. In one of them he says, 44 Every 
week I am bespattered in the public papers. Many are in tears on the 
occasion; many terribly frightened, and crying out, 'O, what will the end 
beV What will it be? Why, glory to God in the highest, and peace and 
good-will among men." Such was his rejoinder to these High Church 
alarms. At the same time it must be conceded, that, however faithful Mr. 
Wesley was in abiding by his leading principle of making mere adherence 
to what was called "regular" give place to the higher obligation of doing 
good, he was sometimes apt, in defending himself, to be too tenacious of 
appearing perfectly consistent. 



REV. JOHX "WESLEY, 



301 



imposition of bands among themselves, and at their com- 
mand, if they had judged it necessary to employ it. Their 
whole proceeding in this respect was merely to grant per- 
mission to exercise powers which they believed to have 
been previously conveyed by Mr. Wesley, in doing which 
they differed from him only in not marking that permission 
with any new form. Perhaps it might have been an im- 
provement, had they accompanied all their future ordina- 
tions by the laying on of the hands of the president for the 
time being, assisted by a few of the senior preachers, and 
by using the fine ordination service of the Church of Eng- 
land: not, indeed, that this would have given a tittle more 
of validity to the act; but the imposition of hands would 
have been in conformity to the usage of the majority of 
Churches, and an instance of deference to an ancient 
Scriptural form of solemn designation and blessing, used 
on various occasions, The whole of Mr. Wesley's proceed- 
ings, both as to America and" Scotland, would have been 
as valid on Scriptural grounds, had there been no other 
form used than simple prayer for men, already in the min- 
istry, going forth on an important mission; but as the New 
Testament exhibited a profitable example of imposition of 
hands in the case of Paul and Barnabas, who had been 
long before ordained to the highest order of the ministry, 
when sent forth into a new field of labor, this example 
was followed.* 

But we return to the continued and unabated labors of 
this venerable servant of God. In 1786, at the Bristol 

* From the preceding observations, it will appear that Mr. Wesley's 
ordinations, both for America and Scotland, stood upon much the same 
ground. The full powers of the ministry had before been conveyed to 
the parties; but now they had a special designation to exercise them in 
every respect, in a new and peculiar sphere. Still their ordination, by 
imposition of hands, did not imply that their former ordination was defi- 
cient, as to the right of administering the sacraments which it conveyed ; 
for then, how came Dr. Coke, who was already a presbyter of the Church 
of England, to be ordained again, when, according to Mr. Wesley's own 

26 



302 



THE LIFE OF 



conference, the old subject of separating from the Church 
was again discussed, and, "without one dissenting voice/' 
it was determined to continue therein; "which determina- 
tion/ ' he remarks, "will, I doubt not, stand, at least till I 
am removed into a better world." After the conference 
was concluded, he paid a second visit to Holland, in com- 
pany with Mr. Brackenbury and Mr. Broadbent, preached 
in various places, expounded to private companies, and 
engaged in conversation with many learned and pious indi- 
viduals. On his return to England, his journal presents 
the usual record of constant preaching and traveling, inter- 
view, he could not be higher in order than a presbyter, although his pow- 
ers might be enlarged as to their application'.* The conference, after Mr. 
Wesley's death, took, therefore, the true ground, in considering the act of 
admission into the ministry, so as to be devoted wholly to it, and to exer- 
cise the pastoral charge, to be a true and Scriptural ordination both to 
preach the word and to administer the sacraments; making wholly light 
of the absurd pretensions of a few among the preachers, who thought that 
they had received something more than their brethren from the mere cere 
mony of the imposition of Mr. Wesley's hands, subsequent to their ordi- 
nary appointment by him when received into the body. Some of these, 
at the first conference after Mr. Wesley's death, stood upon this point; but 
Mr. Benson refuted thejr notion, that imposition of hands was essential to 
ordination. He proved from the New Testament that this was but a cir- 
cumstance, and showed that the body had always possessed a ministry 
Scripturally and therefore validly ordained, although not in the most cus- 
tomary or perhaps in the most influential form. With Mr. Benson the 
conference coincided, so that ordination, without imposition of hands, has 
continued to be the general practice to the present time. It is remarkable, 
that the few preachers who insisted upon imposition of hands being essen- 
tial to ordination, and plumed themselves upon being distinguished from 
their brethren because Mr. Wesley's hands had been laid upon them, did 
not remember a passage in a published letter of Mr. Wesley to Mr. 
Walker, of Truro, dated as long before as 1756^ which sufficiently shows 
how totally disconnected the two things were in his mind ; or that, if they 
adverted to it, its bearing in his controversy with Mr. Walker should not 
have been perceived : " That the seven deacons were outwardly ordained 
even to that low office, can not be denied. But Paul and Barnabas were 
separated for the work to which they were called. This was not ordain- 
ing them; it was only inducting them to the province for which our Lord 
had appointed them. For this end the prophets and teachers fasted, 
prayed, and 1 laid their hands upon them,' a rite which was used, not %n 
ordination only, but in blessing, and on many other occasions." 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



303 



spersed "with useful remark and incident. A few gleanings 
from it will be read with interest: 

" December 23, 1786. — By great importunity I was in- 
duced — having little hope of doing good — to visit two of 
the felons in Xewgate, who lay under sentence of death. 
They appeared serious; but I can lay little stress on ap- 
pearances of this kind. However, I wrote in their behalf 
to a great man; and perhaps it was in consequence of this 
that they had a reprieve. 

"Sunday 24. — I was desired to preach at the Old 
Jewry; but the church was cold, and so was the congrega- 
tion. We had congregations of another kind the next day — 
Christmas day — at four in the morning, as well as five in 
the evening, at the Xew Chapel, and at West-street Chapel 
about noon. 

"Sunday 31. — From those words of Isaiah to Hezekiah, 
'Set thy house in order/ I strongly exhorted all who had 
not done it already, to settle their temporal affairs without 
delay. It is a strange madness which still possesses many 
who are in other respects men of understanding, that they 
put this off from day to day, till death comes in an hour 
when they look not for it. 

"Friday, January 5, 1787, and in the vacant hours of 
the following days, I read Dr. Hunter's Lectures. They 
are very lively and ingenious. The language is good, and 
the thoughts generally just. But they do not suit my 
taste. I do not admire that florid way of writing 1 . Good 
sense does not need to be so studiously adorned. I love 
St. John's style, as well as matter. 

"Sunday, February 25. — After taking a solemn leave 
of our friends, both at West-street and the Xew Chapel, I 
took the mail-coach, and -the next evening reached Exeter 
a little after ten o'clock. Tuesday 27. — We went on to 
Plymouth Dock. The large, new house, far the best in 



304 



THE LIFE OF 



the west of England, was well filled, though on so short a 
warning; and they seemed cordially to receive the exhorta- 
tion, 'Rejoice in the Lord, 0 ye righteous. ' I had the 
satisfaction to find the society here in a more flourishing 
state than ever. Notwithstanding all the pains that have 
be-en taken, and all the art that has been used to tear them 
asunder, they cleave close together, and consequently 
increase in number as well as in strength. 

" Wednesday, March 7.— It ?:ained much while we were 
at Plymouth and at the Dock, and most of the way from 
the Dock to Exeter. But we had lovely weather to-day, 
and came into Bath early in the evening. So crowded a 
house I had not seen here for many years. I fully deliv- 
ered my own soul, by strongly enforcing those awful words, 
'Many are called, but few are chosen.' I believe the word 
sunk deep into many hearts. The next evening we had 
another large congregation equally serious. Thursday 8. — 
I went on to Bristol, and the same afternoon Mrs. Fletcher 
came thither from Madeley. The congregation in the 
evening was exceedingly large. I took knowledge what 
spirit they were of. Indeed the work of God has much 
increased in Bristol since I was here last, especially among 
the young men, many of whom are a pattern to all the 
society. 

"Monday, April 2. — About noon I preached at Stock- 
port, and in the evening at Manchester, where I fully 
delivered my own soul, both then and the next day. 
Wednesday 4.— I went to Chester, and preached in the 
evening on Heb. hi, 12. Finding there was no packet at 
Parkgate, I immediately took places in the mail-coach for 
Holyhead. The porter called us at two in the morning on 
Thursday, but came again in half an hour to inform us 
the coach was full: so they returned my money, and at 
four I took a post-chaise. We overtook the coach at Con- 
way, and, crossing the ferry with the passengers, went 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



305 



forward without delay; so we came to Holyhead an hour 
before them, and went on board between eleven and twelve 
o'clock. At one we left the harbor, and at two the next 
day came into Dublin bay. 

"Or the road, and in the ship, I read Mr. Blackwell's 
'Sacred Classics Illustrated and Defended.' I think he 
fully proves his point, that there are no expressions in the 
K"ew Testament which are not found in the best and purest 
Greek authors. In the evening we had a Sunday's con- 
gregation, and a blessing from on high. 

" Sunday 8. (Easier day.)— I preached in Bethesda, 
Mr. Smyth's new chapel: it is very neat, but not gay, and 
I believe will hold about as many people as West-street 
Chapel. Mr. Smyth read prayers, and gave out the hymns, 
which were sung by fifteen or twenty fine singers: the 
rest of the congregation listening with much attention, and 
as much devotion as they would have done to an opera. 
But is this Christian worship? Or ought it ever to be 
suffered in a Christian church? It was thought we had 
between seven and eight hundred communicants; and, 
indeed, the power of God was in the midst of them. Our 
own room in the evening was well filled with people, and 
with the presence of God. 

" On Monday and Tuesday I preached again at Bethesda, 
and God touched several hearts, even of the rich and great; 
so that, for the time at least, they were ' almost persuaded 
to be Christians.' It seems as if the good providence of 
God had prepared this place for those rich and honorable 
sinners who will not deign to receive any message from 
God, but in a genteel way. 

"Friday 27. — We went to Kilkenny, nine and twenty 
Irish miles from Mount Mellick. Religion was here at a 
low ebb, and scarcely any society left, when God sent 
three troops of horse. Several of the men are full of faith 
and love; since they came, the work of God has revived, 

26* 



306 



THE LIFE OF 



I never saw the house so filled since it was built. And 
the power of God seemed to rest upon the congregation, 
as if he would still have a people in this place. 

"Wednesday", April 9. — We went to Bandon: here, also, 
there has been a remarkable work of God, and yet not 
without many backsliders. It was, therefore, my chief 
business to strengthen the weak, and recall the wanderers. 
So in the evening I preached in the assembly room — which 
was offered me by the provost— on, ' How shall I give thee 
up, Ephraim?' and God applied his word. At noon we 
took a walk to Castle Barnard. Mr. Barnard has given it 
a beautiful front, nearly resembling that of Lord Mans- 
field's house at Caen Wood, and opened part of his lovely 
park to the house, which I think has now as beautiful a 
situation as Rockingham-house in Yorkshire. Mr. Barnard 
much resembles, in person and air, the late Sir George 
Saville. Though he is far the richest person, in these 
parts, he keeps no race-horses or hounds, but loves his 
wife and home, and spends his time and fortune in im- 
proving his estate, and employing the poor. Gentlemen 
of this spirit are a blessing to their neighborhood. May 
God increase their number! 

"In the evening, finding no building would contain the 
congregation, I stood in the main street, and testified to a 
listening multitude, ' This is not your rest/ I then •admin- 
istered the Lord's supper to the society, and God gave us 
a remarkable blessing. 

"Friday, May 25. — I had a day of rest in this lovely 
family — Mr. Slack's — only preaching morning and evening. 

"Saturday 26.- — I preached at Ballyconnel about eleven. 
In the afternoon I took a walk in the bishop of Kilmore's 
garden. The house is finely situated; has two fronts, and 
is fit for a nobleman. We then went into the church-yard, 
and saw the venerable tomb, a plain flat stone inscribed, 
' Dep ostium Gulielmi Bedel, quondam Episcopi Kilmoren- 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



307 



tkf ['The body of William Bedel, formerly bishop of 
Kilmore;'] over whom even the rebel army sung, ' Requi- 
escat in pace ultimus Anglorum' — 'Let the last of the 
Englishmen rest in peace/ At seven I preached to a 
large congregation: it blew a storm, but most of the con- 
gregation were covered by a kind of shed raised for the 
purpose; and not a few were greatly comforted. 

" Tuesday 29. — One of my horses I was obliged to 
leave in Dublin, and afterward another, having bought 
two to supply their places. The third soon got a swelling 
in his shoulder, so that we doubted whether we could go 
on. Aad a boy at Clones, riding — I suppose galloping — 
the fourth over stones, the horse fell and nearly lamed 
himself ; however, we went on softly to Aughalun, and 
found such a congregation as I had not seen before in the 
kingdom. The tent — that is, a covered pulpit — was placed 
at the foot of a green, sloping mountain, on the side of 
which the huo-e multitude sat — as their manner is — row 
above row. While I was explaining, ' God hath given 
unto us his Holy Spirit/ he was indeed poured out in a 
wonderful manner. Tears of joy, and cries were heard on 
every side, only so far suppressed as not to drown my 
voice. I can not but hope that many will have cause to 
bless God for that hour to all eternity. 

" Thursday 31. — We went over mountains and dales to 
Kerlish Lodge, where we met with a hearty welcome, both 
from Alexander Boyle and his amiable wife, who are pat- 
terns to ail the country. Mr. Boyle had spoken to Dr. 
Wilson, the rector of a neighboring town, concerning my 
preaching in the church, who wrote to the bishop, and re- 
ceived a letter in answer, giving a full and free consent. 
The Doctor desired me to breakfast with him. Meantime 
one of his parishioners, a warm seceder, took away the 
key of the church, so I preached in a neighboring orchard: 
I believe not in vain. The rector and his wife were in the 



308 



THE LIFE OF 



front of the congregation. Afterward we took a view of 
Lord Abercorn's place. The house has a lovely situation: 
and the front of it is as elegant as any I have seen either 
in Great Britain or Ireland. The grounds are delightful 
indeed, perhaps equal to any in the kingdom. 

"About five in the evening I preached at Killrail. No 
house would contain the congregation, so I preached in 
the open air. The wind was piercingly cold, but the peo- 
ple regarded it not. Afterward I administered the Lord's 
supper to about a hundred of them, and then slept in 
peace. 

"Wednesday, June 6. — I took leave of my dear friends 
in Londonderry, and drove to Newton Limavady. I had 
no design to preach there. But while we were at break- 
fast, the people were gathered so fast that I could not deny 
them. The house was soon filled from end to end. I 
explained to them the fellowship believers have with God. 
Thence, I went on to Colerain, and preached at six — as I 
did two years ago — in the barrack yard. The wind was 
high and sharp enough; but the people here are good old 
soldiers. Many attended at five in the morning, and a 
large congregation about six in the evening; most of 
whom, I believe, tasted the good word; for God was with 
us of a truth. 

"Tuesday 12. — We came through a most beautiful 
country to Downpatrick, a much larger town than I imag- 
ined; I think not much inferior to Sligo, The evening 
was uncommonly mild and bright, there not being a cloud 
in the sky. The tall firs shaded us on every side, and the 
fruitful fields were spread all around. The people were, I 
think, half as many more as were at Lisburn even on 
Sunday evening. On them I enforced those important 
words, 'Acquaint thyself now with Him, and be at peace/ 

"Wednesday 13. — Being informed we had only six and 
twenty miles to go, we did not set out till between six and 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



309 



seven. The country was uncommonly pleasant, running 
between two high ridges of mountains; but it was up hill 
and down all the way; so that we did not reach Rathfri- 
land till nearly noon. Mr. Barber, the Presbyterian min- 
ister — a princely personage, I believe six feet and a half 
high — offering me his new, spacious preaching house, the 
congregation quickly gathered together. I began without 
delay to open and enforce, 'Xow God commandeth all 
men, every-where, to repent.' I took chaise the instant 
I had done; but the road being still up hill and down, we 
were two hours going what they called six miles. I then 
quitted the chaise, and rode forward. But even then, 
four miles, so called, took an hour and a half riding; so 
that I did not reach Dr. Lesley's, at Tandaragee, till half 
an hour past four. About six I stood upon the steps 
at Mr. Godly's door, and preached on, 'This is not your 
rest,' to a larger congregation, by a third, than even that 
at Downpatrick. I scarcely remember to have seen a 
larger, unless in London, Yorkshire, or Cornwall. 

u Tuesday 26. — Dublin. We were agreeably surprised 
with the arrival of Dr. Coke, who came from Philadelphia, 
in nine and twenty days, and gave us a pleasing account 
of the work of God in America. Thursday 28. — I had a 
conversation with Mr. Howard, I think one of the greatest 
men in Europe. Nothing but the mighty power of God 
can enable him to go through his difficult and dangerous 
employments. But what can hurt us, if God be on our 
side? 

"Sunday, July 22. — Manchester. Our service began at 
ten. Notwithstanding the severe cold, which has continued 
many days, the house was well filled; but my work was 
easy, as Dr. Coke assisted me. As many as could crowded 
in, in the evening; but many were obliged to go away. 
Afterward I spent a comfortable hour with the society. 

"Friday 27. — We went on to Bolton. Here are eight 



310 



THE LIFE OF 



hundred poor children taught in our Sunday schools by 
about eighty masters, who receive no pay but what they 
are to receive from their great Master. About a hundred 
of them, part boys, and part girls, are taught to sing. 
And they sung so true, that, all singing together, they 
seemed to be but one voice. The house was thoroughly 
filled, while I explained and applied the . first and great 
commandment. What is all morality or religion without 
this? A mere castle in the air. In the evening, many of 
the children still hovering round the house, I desired forty 
or fifty to come in and sing, 

'Vital spark of heavenly flame.' 

Although some of them were silent, not being able to sing 
for tears, yet the harmony was such as I believe could not 
be equaled in the king's chapel. 

" Monday, August 6. — Having taken the whole coach 
for Birmingham, we set out, expecting to be there, as 
usual, about five in the evening. But having six persons 
within, and eight without, the coach could not bear the 
burden, but broke down before three in the morning. 
Having patched it together as well as we could, we went 
on to Congleton, and got another. In an hour or two this 
broke also; and one of the horses was so thoroughly tired, 
that he could hardly set one foot before the other. After 
all these hinderances, we got to Birmingham just at seven. 
Finding a large congregation waiting, I stepped out of the 
coach into the house, and began preaching without delay. 
And such was the goodness of God, that I found no more 
weariness when I had done than if I had rested all the 
day. 

"Here I took a tender leave of Mrs. Heath and her 
lovely daughters, about to embark with Mr. Heath for 
America, whom I hardly expect to see any more till we 
meet in Abraham's bosom. 

"Friday 10. — Southampton. At six I preached on 



REV. JOHN "WESLEY. 



Heb. iv, 14. In the afternoon I went with a gentleman — 
Mr. Taylor — to hear the famous musician that plays upon 
the glasses. By my appearing there — as I had foreseen — 
a heap of gentry attended in the evening. And I believe 
several of them, as well as Mr. T. himself, did not come 
in vain. 

" Tuesday 14. — Sailing on with a fair wind, we fully 
expected to reach Guernsey in the afternoon; but the 
wind turning contrary, and blowing hard, we found that 
would be impossible. We then judged it best to put in at 
the isle of Alderney; but we were very near being ship- 
wrecked in the bay. About eight I went down to a con- 
venient spot on the beach, and began giving out a hymn; 
a woman and two little children joined us immediately. 
Before the hymn was ended, we had a tolerable congrega- 
tion, all of whom behaved well: part indeed continued at 
forty or fifty yards' distance, but they were all quiet and 
attentive. 

"It happened, to speak in the vulgar phrase, that three 
or four who sailed with us from England, a gentleman, 
with his wife and sister, were near relations of the gov- 
ernor. He came to us this morning; and when I went 
into the room behaved with the utmost courtesy. This 
little circumstance may remove prejudice, and make a 
more open way for the Gospel. 

"Soon after we set sail; and after a very pleasant pas- 
sage, through little islands on either hand, we came to the 
venerable castle, standing on a rock about a quarter of a 
mile from Guernsey. The isle itself makes a beautiful 
appearance, spreading as a crescent to the right and left; 
about seven miles long and five broad, part high land and 
part low. The town itself is boldly situated, rising higher 
and higher from the water. The first thing I observed in 
it was very narrow streets, and exceedingly-high houses. 
But we quickly went on to Mr. de Jersey's, hardly a mile 



312 



THE LIFE OF 



from the town. Here I found a most cordial welcome, 
both from the master of the house and all his family. I 
preached at seven, in a large room, to as deeply-serious a 
congregation as I ever saw, on ' Jesus Christ, of God 
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
redemption.' 

" Monday 20. — We took ship between three and four 
in the morning, in a very small, inconvenient sloop, and 
not a swift sailer, so that we were seven hours in sailing 
what is called seven leagues. About eleven we landed at 
St. Helier's, and went straight to Mr. Brackenbury's house, 
It stands very pleasantly near the end of the town, and 
has a large, convenient garden, with a lovely range of 
fruitful hills, which rise at a small distance from it. I 
preached in the evening to an exceedingly-serious congre- 
gation, on Matt, iii, ult. And almost as many were present 
at five in the morning, whom I exhorted to go on to per- 
fection, which many of them, Mr. Clarke informs me, are 
earnestly endeavoring to do. 

" Thursday 23. — I rode to St. Mary's, five or six miles 
from St. Helier's, through shady, pleasant lanes. None 
at the house could speak English, but I had interpreters 
enow. In the evening our large room was thoroughly 
filled. I preached on, 'By grace ye are saved, through 
faith.' Mr. Brackenbury interpreted sentence by sentence, 
and God owned his word, though delivered in so awkward 
a manner: but especially in prayer; I prayed in English, 
and Mr. B. in French. 

" Saturday 25. — Having now leisure, I finished a ser- 
mon on 'Discerning the Signs of the Times.' This morn- 
ing I had a particular conversation — as I had once or twice 
before — with Jeannie Bisson of this town, such a young- 
woman as I have hardly seen elsewhere. She seems to 
be wholly devoted to God, and to have constant commu- 
nion with him. She has a clear and strong understanding, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



313 



and I can not perceive the least tincture of enthusiasm. I 
am afraid she will not-, live long. I am amazed at the 
grace of God which is in her. I think she is far beyond 
Madam Guion in deep communion with God; and I doubt 
whether I have found her fellow in England. Precious as 
my time is, it would have been worth my while to come to 
Jersey, had it been only to see this prodigy of grace. 

" Monday 27. — I thought when I left Southampton to 
have been there again at this day; but God's thoughts 
were not as my thoughts. Here we are, shut up in Jer- 
sey, for how long we can not tell. But it is all well; for 
thou, Lord, hast done it. It is my part to improve the 
time, as it is not likely I should ever have another oppor- 
tunity of visiting these islands. 

" Tuesday 28. — Being still detained by contrary winds, 
I preached at six in the evening, to a larger congregation 
than ever, in the assembly room. It conveniently contains 
five or six hundred people. 

"Wednesday 29. — I designed to have followed the blow 
in the morning, but I had quite lost my voice; however, 
it was restored in the evening, and I believe all in the 
assembly room — more than the last evening — heard dis- 
tinctly, while I explained and applied, 'I saw the dead, 
small and great, stand before God/ In the morning, 
Thursday 30, I took a solemn leave of the society. We 
set out about nine, and reached St. Peter's in the afternoon. 
Good is the will of the Lord. I trust he has something 
more for us to do here also. After preaching to a larger 
congregation than was expected, on so short a notice, on, 
' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, ' I 
returned to Mont Plaisir, to stay just as long as it should 
please God. I preached there in the morning, Friday 31 ? 
to a congregation serious as death. 

"Saturday, September 1. — This day twelvemonth 1 was 
detained in Holland by contrary winds. All is well, so 

27 



314 



THE LIFE OF 



we are doing and suffering the will of our Lord. In the 
evening the storm driving us into the house again, I 
strongly exhorted a very genteel audience — such as I have 
rarely seen in England — to 'ask for the old paths, and 
walk therein.' 

"Sunday 2. — Being still pent up by the north-east 
wind, Dr. Coke preached at six in the morning to a deeply- 
affected congregation. I preached at eight, on Rom. viii, 
33. At one, Mr. Vivian, a local preacher, preached in 
French, the language of the island. At five, as the house 

' o o 7 

would not contain half the congregation, I preached in a 
tolerably-sheltered place, on the 'joy there is in heaven 
over one sinner that repenteth;' and both high and low 
seemed to hear it gladly. I then designed to meet the 
society, but could not. The people pressed so eagerly on 
every side, that the house was filled presently; so that I 
could only give a general exhortation, 'to walk worthy of 
their profession.' 

"I was in hopes of sailing in the morning, Monday 3, 
but the storm so increased, that it was judged impractica- 
ble. The congregation, however, in the evening* increased 

o o 7 7 o 

every day; and they appeared to be more and more af- 
fected; so that I believe we were not detained for nothing; 
but for the spiritual and eternal good of many. 

"Tuesday 4. — The storm continued, so that we could 
not stir. I took a walk to-day, through what is called the 
New Ground, where the gentry are accustomed to walk in 
the evening: both the upper ground, which is as level as a 
bowling-green, and the lower, which is planted with rows 
of trees, is wonderfully beautiful. In the evening I fully 
delivered my own soul by showing what it is to ' build upon 
a rock.' But still we could not sail, the wind being quite 
contrary as well as exceedingly high. It was the same on 
Wednesday. In the afternoon we drank tea at a friend's 
who was mentioning a captain just come from France, that 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



315 



proposed to sail in the morning for Penzance, for which the 
wind would serve, though not for Southampton. In this 
we plainly saw the hand of God: so we agreed'*with him 
immediately. 

"Penzance, Saturday 8. — Dr. Coke preached at six to 
as many as the preaching house would contain. At ten I 
was obliged to take the field, by the multitude of people 
that nocked together. I found a very uncommon liberty 
of speech among them, and can not doubt but the work of 
God will nourish in this place. In the evening I preached 
at St. lyes — but it being the market day, so that I could 
not stand, as usual, in the market-place — in a very con- 
venient field at the end of the town, to a very numerous 
congregation, I need scarcely add, and very serious; for 
such are all the congregations in the county of Cornwall. 

"Sunday 9. — About nine I preached at the copper 
works, three or four miles from St. Ives, to a large congre- 
gation, gathered from all parts, I believe 'with the demon- 
stration of the Spirit.' I then met the society in the 
preaching house, which is unlike any other in England, 
both as to its form and materials. It is exactly round, and 
composed wholly of brazen slags, which I suppose will last 
as long as the earth. Between one and two I began in the 
market-place at Redruth to the largest congregation I ever 
saw there. They not only filled all the windows, but sat 
on the tops of the houses. About five I began in the am- 
phitheater at Gwennap: I suppose we had a thousand 
mere than ever were there before: but it was all one; my 
voice was strengthened accordingly, so that every one 
could hear distinctly. 

"London, Sunday, ISTovember 4. — The congregation at 
the Xew Chapel was far larger than usual; and the number 
of communicants was so great, that I was obliged to conse- 
crate thrice. Monday 5.— In my way to Dorking, I read 
Mr. Duff's Essay on Genius. It is beyond all comparison 



316 



THE LIFE OF 



deeper and more judicious than Dr. G.'s essay on that 
subject. If the Doctor had seen it, which one can hardly 
doubt, it is a wonder he would publish his essay: yet I can 
not approve of his method. Why does he not first define 
his term, that we may know what he is talking about? I 
doubt, because his own idea of it was not clear; for genius 
is not imagination, any more than it is invention. If we 
mean by it a quality of the soul, it is, in its widest accepta- 
tion, an extraordinary capacity either for some particular 
art or science, or for all, for whatever may be undertaken. 
So Euclid had a genius for mathematics, Tully for oratory: 
Aristotle and Lord Bacon had a universal genius applicable 
to every thing. 

" Friday 9. — A friend offering to bear my expenses, I set 
out in the evening, and on Saturday 10, dined at Notting- 
ham. The preaching house, one of the most elegant in 
England, was pretty well filled in the evening. 

" Sunday 11. — At ten, we had a lovely congregation; 
and a very numerous one in the afternoon: but I believe 
the house would hardly contain one-half of those that 
came to it. I preached a charity sermon for the infirmary, 
which was the design of my coming. This is not a county 
infirmary, but is open to all England, yea, to all the world. 
And every thing about it is so neat, so convenient, and so 
well ordered, that I have seen none like it in the three 
kingdoms. Monday 12. — In the afternoon we took coach 
again, and on Tuesday returned to London. 

" Sunday 25. — I preached two charity sermons at West- 
street in behalf of our poor children; in which I en- 
deavored to warn them, and all that have the care of them, 
against that English sin, ungodliness, that reproach of our 
nation, wherein we excel all the inhabitants of the earth. 

" Tuesday, December 4. — I retired to Eainham to pre- 
pare another edition of the New Testament for the press. 

" London, Sunday 9. — I went down at half an hour 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



317 



past five, but found no preacher in the chapel, though we 
had three or four in the house: so I preached myself. 
Afterward, inquiring why none of my family attended the 
morning preaching, they said it was because they sat up 
too late. I resolved to put a stop to this, and, therefore, 
ordered, that, 1. Every one under my roof should go to 
bed at nine; that, 2. Every one might attend the morning 
preaching; and so they have done ever since. 

4 'Monday 10. — I was desired to see the celebrated wax- 
work at the museum in Spring Gardens. It exhibits most 
of the crowned heads in Europe, and shows their charac- 
ters in their countenances. Sense and majesty appear in 
the king of Spain; dullness and sottishness in the king of 
France; infernal subtilty in the late king of Prussia — as 
well as in the skeleton of Voltaire; calmness and humanity 
in the emperor and king of Portugal; exquisite stupidity 
in the prince of Orange; and amazing coarseness, with 
every thing that is unamiable, in the Czarina. 

" Sunday 16. — After preaching at Spitalfields, I hastened 
to St. Johns, Clerkenwell, and preached a charity sermon 
for the Finsbury Dispensary, as I would gladly countenance 
every institution of the kind. 

" Saturday 22. — 1 yielded to the importunity of a painter, 
and sat, an hour and a half in all, for my picture. I think 
it is the best that ever was taken. But what is the picture 
of a man above fourscore!" 

These extracts are from the journal of 1787, when Mr. 
Wesley was in his eighty-fifth year. The labors and jour- 
neys of almost every day are similarly noticed, exhibiting 
at once a singular instance of natural strength, sustained, 
doubtless, by the special blessing of God, and of an entire 
consecration of time to the service of mankind, of which 
no similar example is probably on record, and which is ren- 
dered still more wonderful by the consideration that it had 
been continued for more than half a century, on the same 

27* 



318 



THE LIFE OF 



scale of exertion, and almost without intermission. The 
vigor of his mind at this age is also as remarkable: the 
same power of acute observation as formerly is manifested; 
the same taste for reading and criticism; the same facility 
in literary composition. Xor is the buoyant cheerfulness 
of his spirit a less striking feature. Nothing of the old 
man of unrenewed nature appears; no forebodings of evil; 
no querulous comparisons of the present with the past; 
there is the same delight in the beautiful scenes of nature; 
the same enjoyment of conversation, provided it had the 
two qualities of usefulness and brevity; the same joy in 
hopeful appearances of good; and the same tact at turning 
the edge of little discomforts and disappointments by the 
power of an undisturbed equanimity. Above all we see 
the man of one business, living only to serve God and his 
generation, i( instant in season and out of season," seriously 
intent, not upon doing so much duty, but upon saving 
souls; and preaching, conversing, and writing for this end 
alone. And yet this is the man whom we still sometimes 
see made the object of the sneers of infidel or semi-infidel 
philosophers; and whom book-makers, when they have 
turned the interesting points of his character and history 
into a marketable commodity, endeavor to dress up in the 
garb of a fanatic, or a dreamer, by way of rendering their 
works more acceptable to frivolous readers; the man to 
whose labors few even of the evangelical clergy of the 
National Church have the heart or the courage to do jus- 
tice; forgetting how much that improved state of piety 
which exists in the Establishment is owing to the indirect 
influence of his lono* life of labor, and his successful min- 
istry; and that even very many of themselves have sprung 
from families where Methodism first lighted the lamp of 
religious knowledge, and produced a religious influence. 
It will, indeed, provoke a smile, to observe what effort often 
discovers itself in writers of this party, when referring to 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



319 



the religious state of the nation in the last and present cen- 
tury, to keep this apostolic man wholly out of sight, as 
though he had never existed; feeling, we suppose, that be- 
cause he did not conform to the order of their Church, in all 
particulars, it would be a sin against their own orthodoxy 
even to name him as one of those great instruments, in the 
hands of God, who, in mercy to these lands, were raised 
up to effect that vast moral and religious change, the bene- 
fits of which they themselves so richly enjoy. This may 
be attributed not only to that exclusive spirit which marks 
so many of the clergy of this class, even bevond others, 
notwithstanding their piety and general excellence, but to 
the Calvinism which many of them have imbibed. The 
evangelical Arminianism of Wesley has been forgiven by 
the orthodox Dissenters; but, by a curious anomaly, not 
by the Calvinistic party of the Church. It is probably 
better understood by the former.* 

At the time to which the above extracts from his journal 
refer, Mr. Wesley had, however, no reason to complain of 
want of respect, or 6f a due appreciation of his labors by 

* The following- passage from a sermon lately preached in his diocese, 
by Bishop Coplestone, may be quoted, both as a better specimen of the 
spirit of a Churchman than that referred to, and as, perhaps, the only in- 
stance in which any thing- approaching to a due estimate of Mr. Wesley's 
character, and the value of his labors, has been suffered publicly to escape 
the lips of a prelate. It was dictated, evidently, by a candid and liberal 
feeling, though not without being influenced by some of those mistaken 
views which will be corrected at the close of this account of Mr. Wesley's 
life: 

"And here, not only candor and equity, but a just sense of the consti- 
tution of Christ's Church, compels me to draw a marked line of distinction 
between those whose religious assemblies are supplementary, as it were, 
to our own Establishment, offering spiritual comfort and instruction to hun= 
dreds unable to find it elsewhere, and those organized communities which 
exclude from their society any that communicate in the blessed sacrament 
of the Lord's supper with the jNTational Church. 

" Of the former I would not only think and speak mildly, but in many 
cases I would commend the piety and zeal which animates them, full of 
daager as it is to depart from the apostolic ordinance, even in matters of 
outward discipline and order. The author and founder of those socie- 



320 



THE LIFE OF 



the serious of all parties, although he regarded it not with 
improper exultation, but passed through ' ' honor' ' as he 
had passed through " dishonor" in the former years of his 
life, as " seeing Him who is invisible." This period of his 
life must have been to him, on a much higher account, 
one of rich reflection. In his journal of 1785, March 24, 
he observes: "I was now considering how strangely the 
grain of mustard seed, planted about fifty years ago, had 
grown up. It has spread through all Great Britain, and 

ties — for he was careful himself to keep them from being; formed into a 
sect — was a regularly-ordained minister, a man orthodox in his belief, 
simple and disinterested in his own views, and adorned with the most 
amiable and distinguishing virtues of a true Christian. He found thou- 
sands of his countrymen, though nominally Christians, yet as ignorant of 
true Christianity as infidels and heathens; and in too many instances — it is 
useless to conceal or disguise the fact — ignorant, either through the inat- 
tention of the government in not providing for increased numbers, or 
through the carelessness and neglect of those whom the National Church 
had appointed to be their pastors. 

"But the beginning of schism, like that of strife, is as when one letteth 
out water. The gentle stream of piety and benevolence in which this 
practice originated, irrigating only and refreshing some parched or barren 
lands, soon became a swelling and rapid torrent, widening as it flowed on, 
and opening for itself a breach which it may yet require the care and pru- 
dence of ages to close. And even the pious author himself was not proof 
against that snare of Satan, which, through the vanity and weakness of hu- 
man nature, led him in his latter years to assume the authority of an apos- 
tle, and to establish a fraternity within the Church, to be called after his 
own name, and to remain a lasting monument of his activity and zeal. 
But over errors such as these let us cast a vail ; and rather rejoice in reflect- 
ing on the many whom he reclaimed from sin and wickedness, and taught 
to seek for salvation through the merits of their Savior. 

14 Of such, I repeat, wherever a like deficiency of religious means ; s 
found, we ought to speak, not only with tenderness, but with brotherly 
love and esteem." 

It seems pretty obvious that Bishop Coplestone has taken his impres- 
sions from Southey's life of the founder of Methodism, although some- 
what modified by better views of spiritual religion. The moral destitution 
of the country, and the negligence of the Church are acknowledged, as 
well as the important effects produced by Mr. Wesley's labors, at least in 
their early stages; and yet these results are spoken of as somewhat of a 
religious calamity! The beginning of "schism," as to Church order, is 
compared to the letting out of water; and a fearful "breach" out of the 
Established Church completes the picture. How little does this sensible 
and amiable bishop know of the facts of the case — as, for instance, 1, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



321 



Ireland, the Isle of Wight, and the Isle of Man; then to 
America, through the whole continent, into Canada, the 
Leeward Islands, and Newfoundland. And the societies, 
in all these parts, walk by one rule, knowing that religion 
is in holy tempers, and striving to worship God, not in form 
only, but likewise in spirit and in truth." 

He must, indeed, have been insensible to the emotions of 
a generous nature, had he not felt an honest satisfaction, 
that he had lived down calumnies; and that where mobs 
formerly awaited him, he met with the kind and cheering 

That the Methodist societies were in great part gathered, not out of Church- 
goers, but Church-neglecters ; 2. That the effect was generally, for many 
years, to increase the attendance at Church, and to lay the foundation in 
a great number of places, especially in the more populous towns, of large 
Church congregations which have continued to this day; 3. That the still 
more extensive and ultimate result was, after persecution or silent contempt 
had been tried in vain, and when it was found that obstinate perseverance 
in neglect would not be any longer tolerated, that the Establishment was 
roused into an activity by which it has doubtless been greatly benefited, as 
far as respects its moral influence, the only influence of a Church which 
can be permanent or valuable; 4. That very few of the Methodists of the 
present day would, in all probability, have been, in any sense which 
Bishop Coplestone would value, Church people; and so this supposed loss 
of ecclesiastical members affords but an imaginary ground for the regrets 
with which he seems to surround it. The intimation of Mr. Wesley's am- 
bition is imitated from Southey. But of this enough has been said in refu- 
tation. Bishop Coplestone, indeed, regards it mildly as an infirmity, 
which he would charitably cover with Mr. Wesley's numerous and emi- 
nent virtues. That is kind; but Mr. Wesley himself would have taken a 
severer view of this "weakness," had he been conscious of the passion of 
ambition, in the sense in which it is here used. One might ask this re- 
spectable prelate to review the case, and say where Mr. Wesley, allowing 
him his conscientious conviction that he was bound to incessant activity in 
doing good to the souls of men, could have stopped. How he could have 
disposed of his societies in the then existing state of the Church. And 
whether, if he had this u ambition" to be the head of a sect, his whole life 
did not lay restraints upon it, since, from nearly the very outset of his itin- 
erancy and success, it has been shown in this work, by extracts from the 
minutes of his first conferences, that he took views of ecclesiastical polity 
which then set him quite at liberty, had he chosen it, to form his societies 
into a regular Church, to put himself at their head, and to kindle up a spirit 
of hostility to the Establishment, and of warm partisanship in his own fa- 
vor, throughout the land. A vicious ambition would have preferred this 
course. But it is not necessary to anticipate the remarks which will follow 
on these subjects. 



322 



THE LIFE OF 



attentions of the most respectable persons of all religious 
persuasions, in every part of the country. But, more than 
this, he could compare the dearth and barrenness of one 
age with the living verdure and fertility of another. Long- 
forgotten truths had been made familiar; a neglected popu- 
lation had been brought within the range of Christian in- 
struction, and the constant preaching of the word of life 
by faithful men; religious societies had been raised up 
through the land, generally distinguished by piety and* 
zeal; by the blessing of God upon the labors of Mr. White- 
field, and others of his first associates, the old Dissenting 
Churches had been quickened into life, and new ones mul- 
tiplied; the Established Church had been awakened from 
her lethargy; the number of faithful ministers in her 
parishes greatly multiplied; the influence of religion spread 
into the colonies, and the United States of America; and, 
above all, a vast multitude, the fruit of his own ministerial 
zeal and faithfulness, had, since the time in which he com- 
menced his labors, departed into a better world. These 
thoughts must often have passed through his mind, and 
inspired his heart with devout thanksgivings, although no 
allusion is ever made to them in a boastful manner. For 
the past, he knew to whom the praise belonged; and the 
future he left to God, certain, at least, of meeting in 
heaven a greater number of glorified spirits of whose sal- 
vation he had been, under God, the instrument, than any 
minister of modern ages. That " joyful hope" may ex- 
plain an incident, which occurred toward the close of life, 
at the City Road Chapel, London. After prayers had 
been read one Sunday forenoon, he ascended the palpit, 
where, instead of announcing the hymn immediately, he, 
to the great surprise of the congregation, stood silent, with 
his eyes closed, for the space of at least ten minutes, wrapt 
in thought; and then, with a feeling which at once con- 
veyed to all present the subject which had so absorbed his 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



323 



attention, gave out the hymn commencing with the lines: 

4i Come, let us join our friends above, 
Who have obtained the prize," etc. 

It was also his constant practice to preach on All- Saints- 
Day, which was with him a favorite festival, on communion 
with the saints in heaven; a practice probably arising out of 
the same delightful association of remembrances and hope. 

On his attaining his eighty-fifth year, he makes the fol- 
lowing reflections: 

"I this day enter on my eighty-fifth year. And what 
cause have I to praise God, as for a thousand spiritual 
blessings, so for bodily blessings also! How little have I 
suffered yet, by 'the rush of numerous years!' It is true, 
I am not so agile as I was in times past: I do not ran or 
walk so fast as I did. My sight is a little decayed. My 
left eye is grown dim, and hardly serves me to read. I 
have daily some pain in the ball of my right eye, as also 
in my right temple — occasioned by a blow received some 
time since — and in my right shoulder and arm, which I 
impute partly to a sprain, and partly to the rheumatism. 
I find, likewise, some decay in my memory, with regard to 
names and things lately past; but not at all with regard to 
what I have read or heard, twenty, forty, or sixty years 
ago. Neither do I find any decay in my hearing, smell, 
taste, or appetite — though I want but a third part of the 
food I once did — nor do I feel any such thing as weariness, 
either in traveling or preaching. And I am not conscious 
of any decay in writing sermons, which I do as readily, 
and I believe as correctly, as ever. 

"To what cause can I impute this, that I am as I am? 
First, doubtless, to the power of God, fitting me for the 
work to which I am called, as long as he pleases to con- 
tinue me therein; and next, subordinately to this, to the 
prayers of his children. May we not impute it, as inferior 
means, 1. To my constant exercise and change of air? 



324 



THE LIFE OF 



2. To niy never having lost a night's sleep, sick or well, at 
land or sea, since I was born? 3. To my having sleep at 
command, so that whenever I feel myself almost worn out, 
I call it, and it comes, day or night? 4. To my having 
constantly, for above sixty years, risen at four in the morn- 
ing? 5. To my constant preaching at five in the morning, 
for above fifty years? 6. To my having had so little pain 
in my life, and so little sorrow or anxious care? Even 
now, though I find pain daily in my eye, temple, or arm, 
yet it is never violent, and seldom lasts many minutes at a 
time. 

" Whether or not this is sent to give me warning that I 
am shortly to quit this tabernacle, I do not know; but, be 
it one way or the other, I have only to say: 

1 My remnant of days 

I spend to His praise, 
Who died the whole world to redeem : 

Be they many or few, 

My days are his due, 
And they are all devoted to Him!' " 

And, referring to some persons in the nation who thought 
themselves endowed with the gift of prophecy, he adds, 
"If this is to be the last year of my life, according to 
some of these prophets, I hope it will be the best. I am 
not careful about it, but heartily receive the advice of the 
angel in Milton: 

'How well is thine, how long permit to heaven.' " 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The brothers, whose affection no differences of opinion 
and no conflicts of party could diminish, were now to be 
separated by death. Of the last days of Mr. Charles 
Wesley, Dr. Whitehead gives the following account: 

"Mr. Charles Wesley had a weak body, and a poor 
state of health, during the greatest part of his life. I 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



325 



believe he laid the foundation of both at Oxford by too 
close application to study, and abstinence from food. He 
rode much on horseback, which probably contributed to 
lengthen out life to a good old age. I visited him sev- 
eral times in his last sickness; and his body was indeed 
reduced to the most extreme state of weakness. He 
possessed that state of mind which he had been always 
pleased to see in others — unaffected humility, and holy 
resignation to the will of God. He had no transports of 
joy, but solid hope and unshaken confidence in Christ, 
which kept his mind in perfect peace. A few days before 
his death he composed the following lines. Having been 
silent and quiet for some time, he called Mrs. Wesley to 
him, and bid her write as he dictated: 

k In age and feebleness extreme, 
Who shall a sinful worm redeem? 
Jesus, my only hope thou ait, 
Strength of my failing flesh and heart; 
O could I catch a smile from thee, 
And drop into eternity.' 

"He died, March 29, 1788, aged seventy-nine years 
and three months; and was buried, April 5th, in Mary- 
bone church-yard at his own desire. The pall was sup- 
ported by eight clergymen of the Church of England. On 
his tombstone are the following lines written by himself 
on the death of one of his friends: they could not be 
more aptly applied to any person than to Mr. Charles 
Wesley: 

4 With poverty of spirit bless'd, 
Rest, happy saint, in Jesus rest; 
A sinner saved, through grace forgiven, 
Redeem'd from earth to reign in heaven ! 
Thy labors of unwearied love, 
By thee forgot, are crown'd above; 
Crown'd through the mercy of thy Lord, 
With a free, full, immense reward!' 

"Mr. Charles Wesley was of a warm and lively dispo- 
sition, of great frankness and integrity, and generous and 

28 



326 



THE LIFE OF 



steady in his friendships. In conversation he was pleas- 
ing, instructive, and cheerful; and his observations were 
often seasoned with wit and humor. His religion was 
genuine and unaffected. As a minister, he was familiarly 
acquainted with every part of divinity; and his mind was 
furnished with an uncommon knowledge of the Scriptures. 
His discourses from the pulpit were not dry and systematic, 
but flowed from the present views and feelings of his own 
mind. He had a remarkable talent of expressing the most 
important truths with simplicity and energy; and his dis- 
courses were sometimes truly apostolic, forcing conviction 
on the hearers in spite of the most determined opposition. 
As a husband, a father, and a friend, his character was 
amiable. Mrs. "Wesley brought him five children, of whom 
two sons and a daughter are still living.* The sons dis- 

* Miss Wesley, a lady of eminent talents, and great excellence, died 
September 19, 1828. 

It would be improper to withhold, as I have them before me, in the un- 
published letters with which I have been favored, some incidental remarks 
of the late Miss Wesley, on the character of her father: 

u Mr. Moore seems to think that my father preferred rest to going about 
to do good. He had a rising family, and considered it his duty to confine 
his labors to Bristol and London, where he labored most sedulously m 
ministerial offices; and judged that it was incumbent upon him to watch 
over the youth of his sons, especially in a profession which nature so 
strongly pointed out, but which was peculiarly dangerous. He always 
said his brother was formed to lead, and he to follow. No one ever more 
rejoiced in another's superiority, or was more willing to confess it. Mr. 
Moore's statement of his absence of mind in his younger days was proba- 
bly correct, as he was born impetuous, and ardent, and sincere. But 
what a change must have taken place when we were born ! For his 
exactness in his accounts, in his manuscripts, in his bureau, etc., equaled 
my uncle's. Not in his dress, indeed; for my mother said, if she did not 
watch over him, he might have put on an old for a new coat, and marched 
out. Such was his power of abstraction, that he could read and compose 
with his children in the room, and visitors talking around him. He was 
near forty when he married, and had eight children, of whom we were 
the youngest, So kind and amiable a character in domestic life can 
scarcely be imagined. The tenderness he showed in every weakness, 
and the sympathy in every pain, would fill sheets to describe. But I am 
not writing his eulogy; only I must add, with so warm a iemper, he never 
was heard to speak an angry word to a servant, or known to strike a child 
in anger— and he knew no guile!" 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



327 



covered so fine a taste for music, at an early period of life, 
that they excited general astonishment; and they are now 
justly admired by the best judges for their talents in that 
pleasing art. The Methodists are greatly indebted to 
Charles Wesley, for his unwearied labors and great use- 
fulness at the first formation of the societies, when every 
step was attended with difficulty and danger. ■ And being- 
dead he yet speaketh by his numerous and excellent 
hymns, written for the use of the societies, which still 
continue to be the means of daily edification and comfort 
to thousands." (Whitehead's Life.) 

For the spiritual advantages which the Methodists have 
derived from his inestimable hymns, which are in constant 
use in their congregations, as well as for his early labors, 
the memory of Mr. Charles Wesley indeed deserves to be 
had in their everlasting remembrance, and they are not 
insensible of the value of the gift. Their taste has been 
formed by this high standard; and, notwithstanding all the 
charges of illiteracy, and want of mental cultivation, which 
have been often brought against them, we may venture to 
say, there are few collections of psalms and hymns in use 
in any other congregations, that would, as a whole, be 
tolerated among them; so powerful has been the effect 
produced by his superior compositions. The clear and 
decisive character of the religious experience which they 
describe — their force, and life, and earnestness — com- 
mended them, at the first, to the piety of the societies, 
and, through that, insensibly elevated the judgment of 
thousands,, who, otherwise, might have relished, as strongly 
as others, the rudeness of the old version of the Psalms, 
the tameness of the new, and the tinsel metaphors and 
vapid sentimentalisms which disfigure numerous composi- 
tions of different authors, in most collections of hymns in 
use. It would seem, indeed, from the very small number 
of really good psalms and hymns, which are adapted to 



328 



THE LIFE OF 



public worship and the use of religious societies, that this 
branch of sacred poetry has not been very successfully 
cultivated; and that the combination of genius, judgment, 
and taste, requisite to produce them, is very rarely found. 
Germany is said to be more abundant in good hymns than 
England; and some of the most excellent of the Wesley an 
hymns are imitations of German hymns admirably versi- 
fied. But in our language the number is small. Hymns, 
indeed, abounding in sweet thoughts, though often feebly 
expressed, and such as may be used profitably in the closet 
or the family circle, are not so rare. But the true sacred 
lyric, suited for public worship, and the select assemblies 
of the devout, is as scarce as it is valuable. From the 
rustic rhyming of Sternhold and Hopkins, to the psalms 
and hymns of Dr. Watts, the advance was, indeed, un- 
speakably great. A few, however, only of the latter, in 
comparison of the whole number, are unexceptionable 
throughout. When they are so, they leave nothing to be 
desired; but many of Dr. Watts' compositions begin well, 
often nobly, and then fall off into dullness and puerility; 
and not a few are utterly worthless, as being poor in 
thought, and still more so in expression. The piety and 
sweetness of Doddridge's hymns must be felt; but they 
are often verbose and languid, and withal faulty and 
affected in their metaphors. The Olney Collection has 
many delightful hymns for private use; but they are far 
from being generally fit for the public services of religion, 
and are often in bad taste; not even excepting many of 
Cowper's. This may be spoken without irreverence, for 
the greatest poets have not proved the best hymn-makers. 
Milton made but one tolerable psalm; and still more mod- 
ern poets of note have seldom fully redeemed the credit 
of their class. The fact seems to be, that when the mind 
is very rich in sentiment and imagery, those qualities are 
usually infused into sacred song in too large proportions, 



KEY. 3GBJS WEffl^EV. 



329 



Sentiment and genuine religious feeling are things quite 
distinct, and seldom harmonize: at least, though they may 
sometimes approach to the verge of each other, they will 
not amalgamate; and exuberance of metaphor is incon- 
sistent with strong and absorbing devotion, and proves too 
artificial to express the natural language of the heart. 
The talent of correct and vigorous versification is, for these 
reasons, more likely to produce the true " spiritual song" 
than luxuriance of imagination and great creative genius, 
provided the requisite theological and devotional qualities 
be also present. A hymn suitable for social worship ought 
to be terse and vigorous: and it is improved when every 
verse closes with a sense so full and pointed as frequently 
to make some approach to the character of the ancient 
epigram; or. as Mr. Montgomery has happily expressed it, 
"each stanza should be a poetical tune, played down to 
the last note." The meaning ought also to be so obvious 
as to be comprehended at once, that men may speak to 
God directly, without being distracted by investigating the 
real meaning of the words put into their lips. And when 
metaphor is efficiently employed, it must be generally such 
as the Scriptures have already sanctioned; for with their 
imagery we are all familiar, and it stands consecrated to 
the service of the sanctuary by inspired authority. Yet 
even this ought not to be adopted in an extended form, 
approaching to allegory: and is always more successful 
when rather lightiv touched and suggested, than when 
dwelt upon with particularity. Cowper's fine hymn on 
providence is greatly improved by omitting the stanza: 

'"His purposes will ripen fast, 
Unfolding- every hour: 
The bud may have a bitter taste, 
But sweet will be the Sower." 

This is a figure not only not found in sacred inspired 
poetry, but which has too much prettiness to be the vehicle 
of a sublime thought, and the verse has, moreover, the 

28* 



330 



THE LIFE OF 



fault of an absurd antithesis, as well as a false rhyme. 
Many modern hymns are indeed as objectionable from the 
character of their imagery, as from the meagerness of 
their thoughts; and there are a few somewhat popular, 
which, leaving out or changing a few sacred terms, would 
chime agreeably enough to the most common sentimental 
subjects. 

To Dr. Watts and to Mr. Charles Wesley the largest 
share of gratitude is due, in modern times, from the 
Churches of Christ, for that rich supply of "psalms, and 
hymns, and spiritual songs,''' in which the assemblies of 
the pious may make melody unto the Lord, in strains 
which "angels might often delight to hear." lSo others 
are to be named with these sweet singers of the spiritual 
Israel; and it is probable that, through the medium of 
their verse chiefly, will the devotions of our Churches be 
poured forth till time shall be no more. No other poets 
ever attained such elevation as this. They honored God 
in their gifts, and God has thus honored them to be the 
mouth of his people to him, in their solemn assemblies, 
in their private devotions, and in the struggles of death 
itself. 

It would be an unpardonable task to compare the merits 
of these two great psalmists. Each had excellences not 
found in the other. Watts, however, excels Mr. Charles 
Wesley only in the sweeter flow of his numbers, and in 
the feeling and sympathy of those of his hymns which are 
designed to administer comfort to the afflicted. In compo- 
sition, he was, in all respects, decidedly his inferior — in 
good taste, classic elegance, uniformity of excellence, cor- 
rect rhyming, and vigor. As to the theology of their 
hymns respectively, leaving particular doctrines out of the 
question, the great truths of religious experience are also 
far more clearly and forcibly embodied by Mr. Charles 
Wesley than by Dr. Watts. Most justly does his brother 



RET. JOHN WESLEY. 



331 



say of them in his preface to "the Collection of Hymns 
for the use of the people called Methodists, ?? of which 
only a few are his own, and almost all the rest from the 
pen of Mr. Charles Wesley: "In these hymns there is no 
doggerel, no botches, nothing put in to patch up the 
rhyme, no feeble expletives. Here is nothing turgid or 
bombastic, on the one hand, or low and creeping on the 
other. Here are no cant expressions, no words without 
meaning. Here are — allow me to say — both the purity, 
the strength, and the elegance of the English language; 
and, at the same time, the utmost simplicity and plainness, 
suited to every capacity."* 

Few persons ever wrote so much poetry of the sacred 
and devotional kind, as Mr. Charles Wesley. It amounts 

* In this collection, beside a few hymns by Mr. John Wesley, there are 
four or five from Dr. Watts. Several are translations by the Wesleys: 
one from the Spanish, "O God, my God, my all thou art," etc.; one from 
the French, "Come, Savior Jesus, from above;" and the others from the 
German hymns of the Lutheran and Moravian Churches. Several of 
these translated hymns Mr. Montgomery has inserted in his "Psalmist," 
and marked "Moravian." They appear, indeed, in the Moravian Hymn- 
Book, but in departments there, in which are also found the hymns of Dr. 
Watts and other English authors. The preface of the edition of 1754, 
the first authorized collection of the English Moravians, and which em- 
bodies their former unauthorized publications, acknowledges "the fore- 
going labors of Mr. Jacobi and the Rev. Mr. Wesley" in the translation 
of German hymns of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, beside ex- 
tracts of English ones of the eighteenth, from "Watts, Stennett, Davis, 
Erfkine, Wesley," etc.; which acknowledgment was no doubt overlooked 
by Mr. Montgomery. The hymns translated by the Wesleys. and said 
by Mr. Montgomery in his collection to be "Moravian," are, lt Thou 
hidden love of God, whose hight;" "Thee will I love, my strength, my 
tower;" "Shall I for fear of feeble man;" " O thou who earnest from 
above;" "Now I have found the ground wherein;" "My soul before 
thee prostrate lies;" and "Holy Lamb, who thee receive." Now, all 
these were published by the Wesleys before the Moravian Hymn-Book 
of 1754, in which the "foregoing labors of Mr. Wesley," in translating 
from the German, are acknowledged; and, indeed, most of them appear 
in the very first hymn-books published by John and Charles Wesley, two 
of which bear date so early as 1739, fifteen years previous to the publica- 
tion of the authorized Moravian Collection. As translations, they are not 
therefore "Moravian;" and, when they are translated from "the Ger- 
man," it does not follow that they all have a Moravian original, though 



332 



THE LIFE OF 



to forty-eight distinct publications of different sizes, from 
the duodecimo volume to the pamphlet of one or two 
sheets. Beside what is published, several thick quarto 
volumes of poetry in MS. remain, chiefly consisting of 
brief illustrations or paraphrases of the leading texts in 
the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, and not inferior to 
his " Short Hymns on the chief passages of the Old and 
New Testaments, " which have passed through several 

some of them may ; for the Moravian German book, like the English, as 
we learn from the preface to their English hymn-book, "consists as well 
of hymns out of preceding Church collections of their neighbors as of 
others composed by themselves." The hymn, u High on his everlasting 
throne," marked u Moravian" by Mr. Montgomery, and mentioned also 
in his preface, is a Moravian German hymn ; but the translation is by Mr. 
Charles Wesley; while "Give to the winds thy fears," also marked Mo- 
ravian, is a German hymn of the Lutheran Church, and the translation is 
Mr. Charles Wesley's. Of this hymn there is a version in the Moravian 
English Hymn-Book; the last stanza of which, when placed beside Mr. 
C. Wesley's, will show with what strength of internal evidence his trans- 
lations distinguish themselves: 

Wesley's. Moravian. 
Thou seest our weakness, Lord, O Lord, thou seest cur weakness, 

Our hearts are known to thee: Yet know'st what our hearts mean: 

O lift thou up the sinking hand, Against desponding slackness, 

Confirm the feeble knee! Our feeble knees sustain. 

Let us in life and death, Till, and beyond death's valley, 

Thy steadfast truth declare; Let us thy truth declare; 

And publish with our latest breath Yea, then emphatically, 

Thy love and guardian care. Boast of thy guardian care. 

Some- other comparisons might be made between Mr. C. Wesley's 
translations from German hymns and those from the same originals found 
in the Moravian Hymn-Book, which would sufficiently show that the Mo- 
ravians, then at least, had no translator into English verse at all compara- 
ble to him; and, indeed, they had sufficient taste generally to adopt his 
translations in preference. But this is no reason why he should lose the 
credit of his own admirable performances in this department. Respect to 
literary justice has drawn out this note to so great a length; and it was 
the more necessary to state the matter correctly, because Mr. Montgom 
ery's u Psalmist" might in future mislead. The first editions of the 
Hymns and Sacred Poems, by the Wesleys, namely, those of 1739, 174.3 
and 1745, in which most of the above hymns are found, with several 
others in the Moravian Hymn-Book, are now become scarce, and in a few 
y r ears may not be forthcoming to correct the error. For this reason it 
may also be noticed that Mr. Montgomery has inserted in his collection 
several hymns by Charles Wesley as the composition of u authors un- 
known." These, too, are found in the early editions of the Wesley 



KEY. JOHN WESLEY. 



333 



editions. A few of his poems are playful, a few others 
are keenly satirical. He satirized his brother's ordinations, 
and the preachers; but, High Churchman as he was, he is 
very unsparing in the use of his poetic whip upon the per- 
secuting and irreligious clergy. Of this, some of his 
published, and several of his unpublished paraphrases, on 
passages of the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles, in 
which the persecuting deeds of the scribes and Pharisees 
are recorded, afford some caustic specimens;* and sufh- 

Hymns and Poems, and in some later ones, as, " Come let us who in 
Christ believe;" "Come, O thou all-victorious Lord;" "Fountain of 
being, source of good;" "God of my life, whose gracious power;" 
"Jesus, my strength, my hope;" "Jesus, the name high over all;" 
"Leader of faithful souls, and guide;" " O that thou wouldst the heavens 
rent;" "Spirit of truth, come down;" "Thee, O my God and King;" 
"Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love;" and, "When quiet in my house I 
sit." There are two ways of accounting for Mr. Montgomery's want of 
information as to these hymns: that he was not in possession of the 
early editions of hymns published by John and Charles Wesley; and 
that some of the hymns in the hymn-book in use among us, which he has 
ascribed to authors unknown, are parts of longer hymns, and were 
selected by Mr. John Wesley from his brother's poetry, sometimes from 
the middle or end of a piece, so that the first lines would not be found in 
the old indexes when consulted. Mr. Charles Wesley's hymns have not 
been unfrequently claimed for others, without any design to be unjust. 
In the Christian Observer, a few years ago, that exquisite production of 
one of his happiest moments, "Jesus, lover of my soul," was assigned to 
Mr. Madan, although published by Mr. Charles Wesley, in the year 
1743 ; and the translation from the French, " Come, Savior Jesus, from 
above," is found in the poetical works of Dr. John Byrom, published in 
1*73, although it appears in the Wesley "Hymns and Poems" of 1739. 
The probability is, that a copy of it was found among Byrom's papers, 
and so the editor of his poems concluded it to be his. A correct list of 
the different editions of the Hymns and Sacred Poems published by the 
Wesleys, will be found in the last volume of W r esley's Works, recently 
completed. The editions of 1739 are scarce, and it ought to be noticed 
that there are two distinct works published under the same title of " Hymns 
and Sacred Poems," each bearing that date. The hymn-book now in use 
was compiled by Mr. John Wesley out of the preceding hymn-books, of 
different sizes and editions, and from his brother's "Festival Hymns," 
" Scripture Hymns," etc. The whole underwent his severe criticism, and 
he abridged and corrected them with a taste and judgment which greatly 
increased their value. 

* As almost all the family were poets, so they were all characterized by 
a vein of satire. This they appear to have inherited from their father 3 



334 THE LIFE OF 

ciently indicate that lie did not bear the contumely and 
opposition of his High Church brethren with the equa- 
nimity and gentleness of his brother John, He also took 
a part in the Caivinistic controversy, by writing his Hymns 
or Poems on God's universal love. But by far the greatei 
part of his poetry was consecrated to promote the work of 
God in the heart. Never were its different branches, from 
the first awakening of the soul out of the sleep of sin, to 
its state of perfected holiness, with all its intermediate con- 
flicts and exercises, more justly or Scripturaily expressed; 
and there is, perhaps, no uninspired book from which, as 
to "the deep things of God," so much is to be learned, 
as from his hymn-book in use in the Methodist congrega- 
tions. The funeral hymns in this collection have but little 
of the softness of sorrow — perhaps too little; but they are 
written in that fullness of faith which exclaims over the 
open tomb, "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." The hymns on the last 
day are characterized also by the same unflinching faith, 
which, rejoicing in the smile of the Judge, defies the wild 
uproar of elements, and the general conflagration itself. 

whose wit was both ready and pungent. The following is an instance 
copied from the Gentleman's Magazine, for the year 1802: 

14 The authenticity of the following extempore grace by the Rev. Sam- 
uel Wesley — father of the Rev. John — formerly rector of Epworth, may 
be relied on. It is given on the authority of the late William Barnard, 
Esq., of Gainsboro, whose father, the preserver of John from the fire 
of 1707, was present at the time it was spoken, at Temple Belwood, after 
dinner. Mr. P., at whose house they dined, was a strange compound of 
avarice and oddity ; many of his singularities are still remembered : 
' Thanks for this feast, for 'tis no less 
Than eating manna in the wilderness; 
Here meager Famine bears controlless sway, 
And ever drives each fainting wretch away. 
Yet here — O how beyond a saint's belief! — 
We've seen the glories of a chine of beef; 
Here chimneys smoke, which never smoked before, 
And we have dined, where we shall dine no more.' " 
The design of this odd extemporaneous effusion we are bound to be- 
lieve, was not to indulge in levity, but to convey a useful reproof. 



REV. JOHX WESLEY. 



335 



In several of these, Mr. Charles Wesley has admirably 
Christianized the "'just man" of Horace, deadless, amidst 
the ruins of a world: 

il Si fractus illabaiur orbis, 

Impavidum ferient ruina;" 
[If a dissolved world should fall upon him, its ruins would strike him 

fearless (] 

placing the same fine thought in various aspects, and illus- 
trating it by different circumstances. His hymns of invi- 
tation are sweet and persuasive; and those on justification 
by faith, admirably illustrative of that important doctrine. 
Of the value set upon this hymn-book by the Methodist 
congregations, this is a sufficient proof, that above sixty 
thousand copies are sold yearly in the United Kingdom 
alone. * The number in the United States of America 
must be considerably larger. 

With reference to his brother's poetry a remark is inci- 
dentally and somewhat oddly introduced, by Mr. Wesley, 
in his journal of 1790, January 28: 

"I retired to Peckham, and at leisure hours read part 
of a very pretty trifle — the life of Mrs. Bellamy. Surely 
never did any since John Dry den study more 

'To make vice pleasing-, and damnation shine,' 

than this lively and elegant writer. She has a fine imag- 
ination, a strong understanding, an easy style, improved 
by much reading; a fine, benevolent temper, and every 
qualification that could consist with a total ignorance of 
God: but God was not in all her thoughts. Abundance 
of anecdotes she inserts, which may be true or false. One 
of them, concerning Mr. Garrick, is curious: she says, 
'When he was taking ship for England, a lady presented 

* As the number of hymns in this book, adapted for mixed congrega- 
tions and festival occasions, was not thought sufficient, a supplement is 
now added ; containing about an equal number of hymns, by Mr. Charles 
Wesley, and by other authors. Some of the best hymns he ever wrote 
are found in this smaller collection, chiefly on the festivals. 



336 



THE LIFE OF 



him with a parcel, which she desired him n< )t to open till 
he was at sea. When he did, he found 1 Wesley's Hymns, 
which he immediately threw overboard.' I can not be- 
lieve it. I think Mr. G. had more sense. He knew my 
brother well. And he knew him to be not only far supe- 
rior in learning, but in poetry, to Mr. Thomson, and all 
his theatrical writers put together: none of them can equal 
him, either in strong nervous sense, or purity and elegance 
of language. The musical compositions of his sons are 
not more excellent than the poetical ones of their father." 

The last end of the truly-venerable John Wesley was 
now also approaching. He was on his regular pastoral 
visit to Ireland when he entered his eighty-seventh year, 
on which he remarks in his journal: ' 'This day I enter on 
my eighty-seventh year. I now find I grow old. 1. My 
sight is decayed, so that I can not read a small print, un- 
less in a strong light. 2. My strength is decayed, so thai 
I walk much slower than I did some years since. 3. My 
memory of names, whether of persons or places, is decayed, 
till I stop a little to recollect them. What I should be 
afraid of is, if I took thought for the morrow, that my 
body should weigh down my mind, and create either stub- 
bornness, by the decrease of my understanding, or peevish- 
ness, by the increase of bodily infirmities: but thou shalt 
answer for me, 0 Lord my God!" 

Notwithstanding these infirmities, we find him still act- 
ing under the impression — "I must be about my Father's 
business." Although in comparison of his former rapidity 
of movement, he crept rather than ran, it was still in the 
same ceaseless course of service. After holding the Irish 
conference in Dublin, and the English conference at Leeds, 
in August, he returned to London; from thence he set out 
to Bristol, and proceeded on his usual tour through the 
west of England, and Cornwall. Notwithstanding his 
regular visits to Cornwall, he appears, from some reason, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



337 



not to have turned aside to Falmouth, since the time of 
preaching there forty years before, when he met with so 
violent a reception. He now paid that place a visit, and 
remarks, "The last time I was here, about forty years 
ago, I was taken prisoner by an immense mob, gaping and 
roaring like lions; but how is the tide turned! High and 
low now lined the streets from one end of the town to the 
other, out of stark love and kindness, gaping and staring 
as if the king were going by. In the evening I preached 
on the smooth top of the hill, at a small distance from the 
sea, to the largest congregation I have ever seen in Corn- 
wall, except in or near Redruth; and such a time I have 
not known before, since I returned from Ireland. God 
moved wonderfully on the hearts of the people, who all 
seemed to know the day of their visitation." 

From Cornwall he returned by way of Bristol and Bath 
to London. In the early part of the next year, we find 
him again at Bristol; from whence he proceeded, preaching 
at several of the intermediate towns, to Birmingham; and 
from thence through Staffordshire to Madeley, where we 
find the following affecting entry in his journal: 

"At nine I preached to a select congregation on the 
deep things of God; and in the evening on, 'He is able to 
save unto the uttermost all them that come unto God 
through him.' Fridav 26th, I finished my sermon on the 
'Wedding Garment;' perhaps the last that I shall write, 
My eyes are now waxed dim. My natural force is abated; 
however, while I can, I would fain do a little for God, be- 
fore I drop into the dust." 

The societies in Cheshire, Lancashire, and the north of 
England, once more, and for the last time, saw the man, 
to whom, under God, they owed their religious existence. 
On his return southward, he passed through the East 
Riding of Yorkshire, to Hull, preaching in every place as 
on the brink of eternity. He also visited Epworth, and 

29 



338 



THE LIFE OF 



various parts of Lincolnshire; and, upon attaining his 
eighty-eighth year, has the following reflections: 

"This day I enter into my eighty-eighth year. For 
above eighty-six years I found none of the infirmities of 
old age; my eyes did not wax dim, neither was my natural 
strength abated; but last August I found almost a sudden 
change: my eyes were so dim that no glasses would help 
me; my strength likewise now quite forsook me, and prob- 
ably will not return in this world: but I feel no pain from 
head to foot; only, it seems, nature is exhausted, and, 
humanly speaking, will sink more and more, till 

'The weary springs of life stand still at last.' " 

"This," says Dr. Whitehead, "at length was literally 
the case; the death of Mr. Wesley, like that of his brother 
Charles, being one of those rare instances in which nature, 
drooping under the load of years, sinks by a gentle decay. 
For several years preceding his death, this decay was, per- 
haps, more visible to others than to himself, particularly 
by a more frequent disposition to sleep during the day, by 
a growing defect in memory, a faculty he once possessed 
in a high degree of perfection, and by a general diminu- 
tion of the vigor and agility he had so long enjoyed. His 
labors, however, suffered little interruption; and when the 
summons came, it found him, as he always wished it 
should, in the harness, still occupied in his Master's work!" 

Still his journal records his regular visitation of the 
principal places where societies existed, and exhibits the 
same variety and raciness of remark on men and bocks, 
and other subjects, although writing must, at that time, 
have become exceedingly difficult to him from the failure 
of his sight. This most interesting record of unparalleled 
labors "in the Gospel" was, for this reason, it is presumed, 
discontinued, and closes on Sunday, October 24, 1790, 
when he states that he preached twice at Spitalfields 
church. He continued, however, during the autumn and 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



339 



winter, to visit various places till February, continually 
praying, "Lord, let me not live to be useless." The fol- 
lowing account of his last days is taken from the memoir 
prefixed to the edition of his works by the Rev. Joseph 
Benson, and is there inserted as a proper close to his 
journal: 

"He preached, as usual, in different places in London 
and its vicinity, generally meeting the society after preach- 
ing in each place, and exhorting them to love as brethren, 
to fear God, and honor the king, which he wished them to 
consider as his last advice. He then usually, if not inva- 
riably, concluded with giving out that verse, 

'O that, without a lingering groan, 

I may the welcome word receive ; 
My body with my charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live !' 

"He proceeded in this way till the usual time of his 
leaving London approached, when, with a view to take his 
accustomed journey through Ireland or Scotland, he sent 
his chaise and horses before him to Bristol, and took places 
for himself and his friend in the Bath coach. But his 
mind, with all its vigor, could no longer uphold his worn- 
out and sinking body. Its powers ceased, although by 
slow and almost imperceptible degrees, to perform their 
sundry offices, till, as he often expressed himself, 

l The weary wheels of life stood still at last' 

"Thursday, February 17, 1791, he preached at Lam- 
beth; but, on his return, seemed much indisposed, and 
said he had taken cold. The next day, however, he read 
and wrote as usual, and in the evening preached at Chel- 
sea, from, "The King's business requires haste," although 
with some difficulty, having a high degree of fever upon 
him. Indeed he was obliged to stop once or twice, inform- 
ing the people that his cold so affected his voice as to 
prevent his speaking without those necessary pauses. On 



340 



THE LIFE OF 



Saturday he still persevered in his usual employments, 
though, to those about him, his complaints seemed evi- 
dently increasing. He dined at Islington, and at dinner 
desired a friend to read to him four chapters out of the 
book of Job; namely, from the fourth to the seventh in- 
clusive. On Sunday he rose early, according to custom, 
but quite unfit for any of his usual Sabbath day's exer- 
cises. At seven o'clock he was obliged to lie down, and 
slept between three and four hours. When he awoke, he 
said, 'I have not had such a comfortable sleep this fort- 
night past.' In the afternoon he lay down again, and 
slept an hour or two. Afterward two of his own dis- 
courses on our Lord's sermon on the Mount were read to 
him, and in the evening he came down to supper. 

" Monday the 21st, he seemed much better; and though 
his friends tried to dissuade him from it, he would keep 
an engagement, made some time before, to dine at Twick- 
enham. In his way thither he called on Lady Mary Fitz- 
gerald: the conversation was truly profitable, and well 
became a last visit. On Tuesday he went on with his 
usual work, preached in the evening at the chapel in the 
City road, and seemed much better than he had been 
for some days. On Wednesday he went to Leatherhead, 
and preached to a small company on, 'Seek ye the Lord 
while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is 
near.' This proved to be his last sermon: here ended the 
public labors of this great minister of Jesus Christ. On 
Thursday he paid a visit to Mr. Wolff's family at Balham, 
where he was cheerful, and seemed nearly as well as 
usual, till Friday, about breakfast time, when he grew 
very heavy. About eleven o'clock he returned home, 
extremely ill. His friends were struck with the manner 
of his getting out of the carriage, and still more with his 
apparent weakness when he went up stairs and sat down 
in his chair. He now desired to be left alone, and not to 



REV. JOHN WESLEY, 



341 



be interrupted by any one, for half an hour. When that 

time was expired, some mulled wine was brought him, of 

which he drank a little. In a few minutes he threw it 

up, and said, 'I must lie down/ His friends were now 

alarmed, and Dr. Whitehead was immediately sent for. 

On his entering the room, he said in a cheerful voice, 

'Doctor, they are more afraid than hurt/ Most of this 

day he lay in bed, had a quick pulse, with a considerable 

degree of fever and stupor. And Saturday, the 26th, he 

continued in much the same state; taking very little either 

of medicine or nourishment. 

" Sunday morning he seemed much better, got up, and 

took a cup of tea. Sitting in his chair, he looked quite 

cheerful, and repeated the latter part of the verse, in his 

brother Charles' Scripture Hymns, on < Forsake me not 

when my strength faileth;' namely, 

c Til 1 glad I lay this body down, 

Thy servant, Lord, attend: 
And, O ! my life of mercy crown 
With a triumphant end.' 

Soon after, in a most emphatical manner, he said, ' Our 
friend Lazarus sleepeth.' Exerting himself to converse 
with some friends, he was soon fatigued, and obliged to 
lie down. After lying quiet some time, he looked up, and 
said, 'Speak to me; I can not speak.' On which one of 
the company said, 'Shall we pray with you, sir?' He 
earnestly replied, 'Yes.' And while they prayed, his 
whole soul seemed engaged with God for an answer, and 
his hearty amen showed that he perfectly understood what 
was said. About half an hour after, he said, ' There is no 
need of more; when at Bristol my words were, 

t; 1 the chief of sinners am, 
But Jesus died for me." '* 

" One said, 'Is this the present language of your heart, 

* At the Bristol conference, in 1783, Mr. Wesley was taken very ill; 
neither he nor his friends thought he could recover, From the nature of 

29* 



342 # THE LIFE OF 

and do you now feel as you did then?' He replied, 'Yes.' 
When the same person repeated, 

' Bold I approach the eternal throne, 
And claim the crown, through Christ my own,' 

and added, "Tis enough. He our precious Immanuel has 
purchased, has promised, all,' he earnestly replied, 'He is 
all! He is all!' After this the fever was very high, and, 
at times, affected his recollection; but even then, though 
his head was subject to a temporary derangement, his 
heart seemed wholly engaged in his Master's work. In 
the evening he got up again, and, while sitting in his 
chair, he said, ' How necessary it is for every one to be on 
the right foundation! 

"I the chief of sinners am, 
But Jesus died for me !" ' 

" Monday, the 28th, his weakness increased. He slept 
most of the day, and spoke but little; yet that little testi- 
fied how much his whole heart was taken up in the care 
of the societies, the glory of God, and the promotion of 
the things pertaining to that kingdom to which he was 
hastening. Once he said, in a low but distinct manner, 
'There is no way into the holiest, but by the blood of 
Jesus.' He afterward inquired what the words were from 
which he had preached a little before at Hampstead. Be- 
ing told they were these, 'Ye know the grace of our Lord 

his complaint, he supposed a spasm would seize his stomach, and, prob- 
ably, occasion sudden death. Under these views of his situation, he said 
to Mr. Bradford, <l I have been reflecting- on my past life: I have been 
wandering up and down, between fifty and sixty years, endeavoring, in 
my poor way, to do a little good to my fellow-creatures; and now it is 
probable, that there are but a few steps between me and death; and what 
have I to trust to for salvation? I can see nothing which I have done or 
suffered, that will bear looking at. I have no other plea than this 
' I the chief of sinners am, 
But Jesus died for me.' " 
The sentiment here expressed, and his reference to it in his last sickness, 
plainly show how steadily he had persevered in the game views of the 
Gospel. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. % 



343 



Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes 
he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be 
rich/ he replied, 'That is the foundation, the only founda- 
tion: there is no other.' This day Dr. Whitehead desired 
he might be asked, if he would have any other physician 
called in to attend him; but this lie absolutely refused. 
It is remarkable that he suffered very little pain, never 
complaining of any during his illness, but once of a pain 
in his left breast. This was a restless night. Tuesday 
morning he sung two verses of a hymn: then lying still, 
as if to recover strength, he called for pen and ink; but 
when they were brought, he could not write. A person 
said, 'Let me write for you, sir: tell me what you vrould 
say.' He replied, 'Xothing, but that God is with us.' 
In the forenoon he said, 'I will get up.' While they were 
preparing his clothes, he broke out in a manner which, 
considering his extreme weakness, astonished all present, 
in singing, 

'I'll praise my Maker while I've breath, 
And when my voice is lost in death, 

Praise shall employ my nobler powers ; 
My days of praise shall ne'er be past, 
While life, and thought, and being- last, 

Or immortality endures!' 

' 'Having got him into his chair, they observed him 
change for death. But he, regardless of his dying body, 
said, with a weak voice, 'Lord, thou givest strength to 
those that can speak, and to those who can not. Speak, 
Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that thou 
loosest tongues.' He then sung, 

4 To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Who sweetly all agree — ' 

Here his voice failed. After gasping for breath, he said, 
'Xow we have done all.' He was then laid in the bed, 
Tom which he rose no more. After resting a little he 
called to those that were with him to 'pray and praise.' 
They kneeled down, and the room seemed to be filled 



344 



THE LIFE OF 



with the Divine presence. A little after, he said, 'Let 
me be buried in nothing but what is woolen, and let my 
corpse be carried into the chapel/ Then, as if he had 
done with all below, he again begged they would pray 
and praise. Several friends that were in the house being 
called up, they all kneeled down again to prayer, at which 
time his fervor of spirit was manifest to every one present. 
But in particular parts of the prayer, his whole soul 
seemed to be engaged in a manner which evidently showed 
how ardently he longed for the full accomplishment of 
their united desires. And when one of the preachers was 
praying in a very expressive manner, that if God were 
about to take away their father to his eternal rest, he 
would be pleased to continue and increase his blessing 
upon the doctrine and discipline which he had long made 
his servant the means of propagating and establishing in 
the world, such a degree of fervor accompanied his loud 
amen, as was every way expressive of his soul's being 
engaged in the answer of the petitions. On rising from 
their knees, he took hold of all their hands, and, with 
the utmost placidness, saluted them, and said, ' Farewell, 
farewell.' 

"A little after, a person coming in, he strove to speak, 
but could not. Finding they could not understand him, 
he paused a little, and then, with all the remaining 
strength he had, cried out, ' The best of all is, God is 
with us; 9 and, soon after, lifting up his dying arm in 
token of victory, and raising his feeble voice with a holy 
triumph not to be expressed, he again repeated the heart- 
reviving words, ' The best of all is, God is with us. 9 Being 
told that his brother's widow was come, he said, 'He 
giveth his servants rest.' He thanked her, as she pressed 
his hand, and affectionately endeavored to kiss her. On 
his lips being wetted, he said, * We thank thee, 0 Lord, for 
these and all thy mercies: bless the Church and king; and 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



346 



grant us truth and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
forever and ever!' At another time he said, 'He causeth 
his servants to lie down in peace.' Then pausing a little, 
he cried, 'The clouds drop fatness!' and soon after, 'The 
Lord is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge!' He 
then called those present to prayer; and though he was 
greatly exhausted, he appeared still more fervent in spirit. 
These exertions were, however, too much for his feeble 
frame; and most of the night following, though he often 
attempted to repeat the psalm before mentioned, he could 
only utter, 

'I'll praise — I'll praise!' 

"On Wednesday morning the closing scene drew near. 
Mr. Bradford, his faithful friend, prayed with him, and the 
last words he was heard to articulate were, 'Farewell!' 
A few minutes before ten, while several of his friends were 
kneeling around his bed, without a lingering groan, this 
man of God, this beloved pastor of thousands, entered into 
the joy of his Lord. 

"He was in the eighty-eighth year of his age, had been 
sixty-five years in the ministry; and the preceding pages 
will be a lasting memorial of his uncommon zeal, dili- 
gence, and usefulness, in his Master's work, for more than 
half a century. His death was an admirable close to so 
laborious and useful a life. 

"At the desire of many of his friends his corpse was 
placed in the new chapel, and remained there the day 
before his interment. His face during that time had a 
heavenly smile upon it, and a beauty which was admired 
by all that saw it. 

"March the 9th was the day appointed for his interment. 
The preachers then in London requested that Dr. White- 
head should deliver the funeral discourse; and the execu- 
tors afterward approved of the appointment. The inten- 
tion was to carry the corpse into the chapel, and place 



346 



THE LIFE OF 



it in a raised situation before the pulpit during the service. 
But the crowds which came to see the body while it lay 
in the coffin, both in the private house, and especially in 
the chapel the day before his funeral, were so great, that 
his friends were apprehensive of a tumult, if they should 
adopt the plan first intended. It was, therefore, resolved, 
the evening before, to bury him between five and six in 
the morning. Though the time of notice to his friends 
was short, and the design itself was spoken of with great 
caution, yet a considerable number of persons attended at 
that early hour. The late Rev. Mr. Richardson, who now 
lies with him in the same vault, read the funeral service 
in a manner that made it peculiarly affecting. When he 
came to that part of it, 'Forasmuch as it hath pleased 
almighty God to take to himself the soul of our dear 
brother," etc., he substituted, with the most tender em- 
phasis, the epithet father, instead of brother, which had so 
powerful an effect on the congregation, that from silent 
tears they seemed universally to burst out into loud 
weeping. 

INSCRIPTION ON HIS COFFIN. 

JOHANNES WESLEY, A. M. 
Olim Soc. Coll. Lin. Oxon. 
Ob. 2do. die Martii, 1791. 
An. ffit. 88.* 

"The discourse by Dr. Whitehead was delivered in the 
chapel at the hour appointed in the forenoon, to an as- 
tonishing multitude of people; among whom were many 
ministers of the Gospel, both of the Establishment and 
Dissenters. The audience was still and solemn as night; 
and all seemed to carry away with them enlarged views 
of Mr. Wesley's character, and serious impressions of the 
importance of religion." 

* 14 John Wesley, Master of Arts, formerly Fellow of Lincoln College. 
Oxford, died on the second day of March, 1791, in the eighty-eighth year 
of his age." 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



347 



The following is the inscription on the marble tablet 
erected to his memory, in the chapel, City road: 

SACRED TO THE MEMORY 

Or the Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M. A., 
Sometime Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford: 
A Man in Learning and sincere Piety 
Scarcely inferior to any; 
In Zeal, Ministerial Labors, and Extensive Usefulness, 
Superior, perhaps, to all Men, 
Since the days of St. PAUL. 
Regardless of Fatigue, personal Danger, and Disgrace, 
He went out into the highways and hedges, 
Calling Sinners to Repentance, 
And Publishing the Gospel of Peace. 
He was the Founder of the Methodist Societies, 
And the chief Promoter and Patron 
Of the Plan of Itinerant Preaching, 
Which he extended through Great Britain and Ireland, 
The West Indies, and America, 

With unexampled Success. 
He was born the 17th of June, 1703 ; 
And died the 2d of March, 1791, 
In sure and certain hope of Eternal Life, 
Through the Atonement and Mediation of a Crucified Savior 
He was sixty-five Years in the Ministry, 

And fifty -two an Itinerant Preacher: 
He lived to see, in these Kingdoms only, 
About three hundred Itinerant, 
And one thousand Local Preachers, 
Raised up from the midst of his own People; 
And eighty thousand Persons in the Societies under his care, 
His name will be ever had in grateful Remembrance 
By all who rejoice in the universal Spread 
Of the Gospel of Christ. 
Soli Deo Gloria. 
[Glory to God alone.] 

It would be superfluous in closing this account of a 
man at once so extraordinary and so truly great for me to 
attempt a delineation of his character, since this has been 
done so ably that nothing can easily be added, with good 
effect. I shall, therefore, insert Dr. Whitehead's own 
summary, with notices by others who were personally 



348 



THE LIFE OF 



acquainted with' him. Taken together they transmit an 
interesting and instructive picture of the founder of Meth- 
odism to future ages. 

Dr. Whitehead observes: 

4 'Some persons have affected to insinuate that Mr. Wes- 
ley was a man of slender capacity; but certainly with 
great injustice. His apprehension was clear, his penetra- 
tion quick, and his judgment discriminative and sound; 
of which his controversial writings, and his celebrity in 
the stations he held at Oxford, when young, are sufficient 
proofs. In governing a large body of preachers and peo- 
ple, of various habits, interests, and principles, with as- 
tonishing calmness and regularity for many years, he 
showed a strong and capacious mind, that could compre- 
hend and combine together a vast variety of circum- 
stances, and direct their influence through the great body 
he governed. As a scholar, he certainly held a conspicu- 
ous rank. He was a critic in the Latin and Greek classics; 
and was well acquainted with the Hebrew, and with sev- 
eral modern tongues. But the Greek was his favorite 
language, in which his knowledge was extensive and 
accurate. At college, he had studied Euclid, Keil, Sir 
Isaac Newton's Optics, etc.; but he never entered far into 
:he more abstruse parts, or the higher branches of the 
mathematics; finding they would fascinate his mind, ab- 
sorb his attention, and divert him from the pursuit of the 
more important objects of his own profession. 

"Natural history was a field in which he walked at 
every opportunity, and contemplated with infinite pleasure 
the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God, in the 
structure of natural bodies, and in the various instincts 
and habits of the animal creation. But he was obliged to 
view these wonderful works of God, in the labors and 
records of others; his various and continual employments 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



349 



of a higher nature, not permitting him to make experi- 
ments and observations for himself.* 

"As a writer, Mr. Wesley certainly possessed talents, 
sufficient to procure him considerable reputation. But he 
did not write for fame: his object was chiefly to instruct 
and benefit that numerous class of people who have little 
learning, little money, and but little time to spare for 
reading. In all his writings he constantly kept these cir- 
cumstances in view. Content with doing good, he used 
no trappings merely to please, or to gain applause. The 
distinguishing character of his style is brevity and per- 
spicuity. He never lost sight of the rule which Horace 
gives: 

1 Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia, neu se 

Impediat verbis lassas onerantibus auresC 
' Concise your diction, let your sense be cleat^ 

Nor with a weight of words fatigue the ear. 

"In all his writings his words are well chosen, pure, 
'proper to his subject, and precise in their meaning. His 
sentences commonly have the attributes of clearness, 
unity, and strength: and whenever he took time, and gave 
the necessary attention to his subject, both his manner 
of treating it, and his style, show the hand of a master. \ 

"The following is a just character of Mr. Wesley as a 
preacher: 'His attitude in the pulpit was graceful and 
easy; his action calm and natural, yet pleasing and ex- 
pressive; his voice not loud, but clear and manly; his style 
neat, simple, and perspicuous, and admirably adapted to 
the capacity of his hearers. His discourses, in point of 
composition, were extremely different on different occa- 

* He, however, employed much leisure time while at college in the 
study of anatomy and medicine. 

f His Treatise on Original Sin, his Appeals, and some of his Sermons, 
are instances of finished and careful composition ; and are equally to be 
admired for clearness of method, and the force of many passages which 
are truly eloquent, 

30 



350 



THE LIFE OF 



sions. When he gave himself sufficient time for prepara- 
tion, he succeeded; but when he did not, he frequently 
failed.' It was indeed manifest to his friends, for many 
years before he died, that his employments were too many, 
and that he preached too often to appear with the same 
advantage at all times in the pulpit. His sermons were 
always short: he was seldom more than half an hour in 
delivering a discourse, sometimes not so long. His sub- 
jects were judiciously chosen, instructive and interesting 
to the audience, and well adapted to gain attention and 
warm the heart. 

"The labors of Mr. Wesley in the work of the minis- 
try, for fifty years together, were without precedent. 
During this period, he traveled about four thousand, five 
hundred miles every year, one year with another, chiefly 
on horseback. It had been impossible for him to accom- 
plish this almost incredible degree of exertion, without 
great punctuality and care in the management of his time. 
He had stated hours for every purpose: and his only re- 
laxation was a change of employment. His rules were 
like the laws of the Medes and Persians, absolute and 
irrevocable. He had a peculiar pleasure in reading and 
study, and every literary man knows how apt this passion 
is to make him encroach on the time which ought to be 
employed in other duties: he had a high relish for conver- 
sation, especially with pious, learned, and sensible men: 
but whenever the hour came when he was to set out on a 
journey, he instantly quitted the company with which he 
might be engaged, without any apparent reluctance. For 
fifty-two years, or upward, he generally delivered two, 
frequently three or four, sermons in a day. But calcu- 
lating only two sermons a day, and allowing, as a writer of 
his life has done, fifty annually for extraordinary occasions, 
the whole number of sermons he preached during this 
period will be forty thousand, five hundred and sixty. To 



REV. JOHM WESLEY*. 



351 



these must be added an infinite number of exhortations 
to the societies after preaching, and in other occasional 
meetings at which he assisted. 

4 'In social life, Mr. Wesley was lively and conversa- 
tional. He had the talent of making himself exceedingly 
agreeable in company: and having been much accustomed 
to society, the rules of good breeding were habitual to 
him. The abstraction of a scholar did not appear in his 
behavior; but he was attentive and polite. He spoke a 
good deal where he saw it was expected, which was almost 
always the case wherever he visited. Having seen much 
of the world in his travels, and read more, his mind was 
stored with an infinite number of anecdotes and observa- 
tions; and the manner in which he related them was no 
inconsiderable addition to the entertainment and instruc- 
tion they afforded. It was impossible to be long in his 
company, either in public or private, without partaking 
of his placid cheerfulness; which was not abated by the 
infirmities of age, or the approach of death; but was as 
conspicuous at fourscore and seven, as at one and twenty. 

" A remarkable feature in Mr. Wesley's character was 
his placability. Having an active, penetrating mind, his 
temper was naturally quick, and even tending to sharp- 
ness. The influence of religion, and the constant habit 
of patient thinking, had in a great measure corrected this 
disposition. In general he preserved an air of * sedateness 
and tranquillity, which formed a striking contrast to the 
liveliness conspicuous in all his actions. Persecutions, 
abuse, and injury, he bore from strangers, not only with- 
out anger, but without any apparent emotion; and what 
he said of himself is strictly true, that he had a great 
facility in forgiving injuries. Submission, on the part of 
the offender, presently disarmed his resentment, and he 
would treat him with great kindness and cordiality. No 
man was ever more free from jealousy or suspicion than 



352 



THE LIFE OF 



Mr, Wesley, or laid himself more open to the impositions 

of others. Though his confidence was often abused, and 
circumstances sometimes took place which would have made 
almost any other man suspicious, vet he suspected no one; 
nor was it easy to convince him that any one had inten- 
tionally deceived him; and when facts had demonstrated 
that this was actually the case, he would allow no more 
than that it was so in that single instance. If the person 
acknowledged his fault, he believed him sincere, and 
would trust him again If we view this temper of hi& 
mind in connection with the circumstance that his most 
private papers lay open to the inspection of those con- 
stantly about him, it will afford as strong proof as can 
well be given, of the integrity of his own mind, and that 
he was at the farthest distance from any intention to de- 
ceive, or impose upon others. 

"The temperance of Mr. Wesley was extraordinary. 
When at college he carried this so far that his friends 
thought him blamable. But he never imposed upon others 
the same degree of rigor he exercised upon himself. He 
only said, I must be the best judge of what is hurtful or 
beneficial to me. Among other things, he was remarkable 
for moderation in sleep; and his notion of it can not be 
better explained than in his own words. Healthy men, 
says he, 'require about six hours' sleep; healthy women, 
a little above seven, in four and twenty. If any one de- 
sires to know exactly what quantity of sleep his own con- 
stitution requires, he may very easily make the experi- 
ment, which I made about sixty years ago. I then waked 
every night about twelve or one, and lay awake for some 
time. I readily concluded, that this arose from mv bein^ 
in bed longer than nature required. To be satisfied, I 
procured an alarum, which waked me the next morning 
at seven— nearly an hour earlier than I rose the day 
before— yet I lay awake again at night. The second 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



353 



morning I rose at six; but, notwithstanding this, I lay 
awake the second night. The third morning I rose at 
five; but, nevertheless, I lay awake the third night. The 
fourth morning I rose at four, as, by the grace of God, I 
have done ever since: and I lay awake no more. And I 
do not now lie awake, taking the year round, a quarter of 
an hour together in a month. By the same experiment, 
rising ealier and earlier every morning, may any one find 
how much sleep he wants.' 

"It must, however, be observed, that, for many years 
before his death, Mr. Wesley slept more or less during the 
day; and his great readiness to fall asleep at any time 
when fatigued, was a considerable means of keeping up 
his strength, and enabling him to go through so much 
labor. He never could endure to sleep on a soft bed. 
Even in the latter part of life, when the infirmities of age 
pressed upon him, his whole conduct was at the greatest 
distance from softness or effeminacy. 

"A writer of Mr. Wesley's Life, from whom some ob- 
servations respecting his general character have already 
been taken, has farther observed, Perhaps the most char- 
itable man in England was Mr. Wesley. His liberality to 
the poor knew no bounds but an empty pocket. He gave 
away, not merely a certain part of his income, but all that 
he had: his own wants provided for, he devoted all the 
rest to the necessities of others. He entered upon this 
good work at a very early period. We are told, that, 
'when he had thirty pounds a year, he lived on twenty- 
eight, and gave away forty shillings. The next year, 
receiving sixty pounds, he still lived on twenty-eight, and 
gave away two and thirty. The third year he received 
ninety pounds, and gave away sixty-two. The fourth 
year he received one hundred and twenty pounds. Still 
he lived on twenty-eight, and gave to the poor ninety-two.' 
In this ratio he proceeded during the rest of his life; and, 

30* 



354 



THE LIFE OF 



in the course of fifty years, it has been supposed, he gave 
away between twenty and thirty thousand pounds;* a 
great part of which most other men would have put out 
at interest, upon good security. 

"In the distribution of his money, Mr. Wesley was as 
disinterested as he was charitable. He had no regard to 
family connections, nor even to the wants of the preachers 
who labored with him, in preference to strangers. He 
knew that these had some friends; and he thought thai 
the poor destitute stranger might have none, and, there- 
fore, had the first claim on his liberality. When a trifling 
legacy has been paid him, he has been known to dispose 
of it in some charitable way before he slept, that it might 
not remain his own property for one night. He often 
declared that his own hands should be his executors; and 
though he gained all he could by his publications, and 
saved all he could, not wasting so much as a sheet of 
paper, yet, by giving all he could, he was preserved from 
laying up tr easier es upon earth. He had said in print, that, 
if he died worth more than ten pounds, independent of 
his books, and the arrears of his fellowship, which he then 
held, he would give the world leave to call him 'a thief 
and a robber.' This declaration, made in the integrity of 
his heart, and the hight of his zeal, laid him under some 
inconveniences afterward, from circumstances which he 
could not at that time foresee. Yet in this, as ail his 
friends expected, he literally kept his word, as far as 
human foresight could reach. His chaise and horses, his 
clothes, and a few trifles of that kind, were all, his books 
excepted, that he left at his death. Whatever might be 
the value of his books, this altered not the case, as they 
were placed in the hands of trustees, and the profits 
arising from the sale of them were to be applied to the 

* Money chiefly arising from the constant and large sale of his writ- 
ings, and the works he abridged, 



REV. JOHN WESLEY". 



use and benefit of the conference for public purposes; 
reserving only a few legacies and a rent charge of eighty- 
five pounds a year to be paid to his brother's widow, 
which was in fact a debt, in consideration for the copy- 
right of his brother's hymns. 

" Among the other excellences of Mr. Wesley, his 
moderation in controversy deserves to be noticed. Writers 
of controversy too often forget, that their own character is 
intimately connected with the manner in which they treat 
others: and if they have no regard for their opponents, 
they ought to have some respect for themselves. When a 
writer becomes personal and abusive, it affords a fair pre- 
sumption against his arguments, and tends to put his 
readers on their guard. Most of Mr. Wesley's opponents 
were of this description; their railing was much more vio- 
lent than their reasons were cogent. Mr. Wesley kept his 
temper, and wrote like a Christian, a gentleman, and a 
scholar. He might have taken the words of the excellent 
Hooker as a motto to his polemical tracts, 'To your rail- 
ing, I say nothing; for your reasons take what follows.' 
He admired the temper in which Mr. Law wrote a contro- 
versy: only in some instances Mr. Law shows a contempt 
for his opponents, which Mr. Wesley thought highly im- 
proper." 

To these remarks of Dr. Whitehead may be added two 
or three sketches of Mr. Wesley's character, drawn up by 
different persons, and printed soon after his death. The 
first is anonymous: 

4 4 Now that Mr. John Wesley has finished his course 
upon earth, I may be allowed to estimate his character, 
and the loss the world has sustained by his death. Upon 
a fair account, it appears to be such, as not only annihilates 
all the reproaches that have been cast upon him, but such 
as does honor to mankind, at the same time that it re- 
proaches them. His natural and acquired abilities were both 



356 



THE LIFE OF 



of the highest rank. His apprehension was lively and dis- 
tinct; his learning extensive. His judgment, though not 
infallible, was, in most cases, excellent. His mind was 
steadfast and resolved. His elocution was ready and clear, 
graceful and easy, accurate and unaffected. As a writer, 
his style, though unstudied, and flowing with natural ease, 
yet for accuracy and perspicuity was such as may vie with 
the best writers in the English language. Though his 
temper was naturally warm, his manners were gentle, sim- 
ple, and uniform. Never were such happy talents better 
seconded by an unrelenting perseverance in those courses 
which his singular endowments, and his zealous love to 
the interests of mankind, marked out for him. His consti- 
tution was excellent: and never was a constitution less 
abused, less spared, or more excellently applied, in an 
exact subservience to the faculties of his mind. His labors 
and studies were wonderful. The latter were not confined 
to theology only, but extended to every subject that tended 
either to the improvement or the rational entertainment of 
the mind. If we consider his reading by itself, his writings 
and his other labors by themselves, any one of them will 
appear sufficient to have kept a person of ordinary applica- 
tion busy during his whole life. In short, the transactions 
of his life could never have been performed, without the 
utmost exertion of two qualities, which depended, not upon 
his capacity, but on the uniform steadfastness of his reso- 
lution. These were inflexible temperance, and unexampled 
economy of time. In these he was a pattern to the age he 
lived in, and an example to what a surprising extent a man 
may render himself useful in his generation, by temperance 
and punctuality. His friends and followers have no reason 
to be ashamed of the name of Methodist, which he has 
entailed upon them, as, for an uninterrupted course of 
years, he has given the world an instance of the possibility 
of living without wasting a single hour, and of the advan- 



REV. JOHJN" WESLEY. 



357 



tage of a regular distribution of time, in discharging the im- 
portant duties and purposes of life. Few ages have more 
needed such a public testimony to the value of time, and 
perhaps none have had a more conspicuous example of the 
perfection to which the improvement of it may be carried. 

"As a minister, his labors were unparalleled, and such 
as nothing could have supported him under but the warm- 
est zeal for the doctrine he taught, and for the eternal 
interests of mankind. He studied to be gentle, yet vigilant 
and faithful toward all. He possessed himself in patience, 
and preserved himself unprovoked, nay, even unruffled, in 
the midst of persecution, reproach, and all manner of abuse, 
both of his person and name. But let his own works praise 
him. He now enjoys the fruits of his labors, and that 
praise which he sought, not of men, but of God. 

"To finish the portrait. Examine the general tenor of 
his life, and it will be found self-evidently inconsistent with 
his being a slave to any one passion or pursuit, that can fix 
a blemish on his character. Of what use were the accu- 
mulation of wealth to him, who, through his whole course, 
never allowed himself to taste the repose of indolence, or 
even of the common indulgence in the use of the necessa- 
ries of life? Free from the partiality of any party, the 
sketcher of this excellent character, with a friendly tear, 
pays it as a just tribute to the memory of so great and 
good a man, who, when alive, was his friend.' 9 

Of Mr. Wesley Mr. Alexander Knox says: 

"Very lately I had an opportunity, for some days 
together, of observing Mr. Wesley with attention. I 
endeavored to consider him, not so much with the eye of 
a friend, as with the impartiality of a philosopher; and I 
must declare, every hour I spent in his company afforded 
me fresh reasons for esteem and veneration. So fine an 
old man I never saw. The happiness of his mind beamed 
forth in his countenance, Every look showed how fully he 



358 



THE LIFE OF 



enjoyed 'the gay remembrance of a life well spent;' and 
wherever lie went, he diffused a portion of his own felicity. 
Easy and affable in his demeanor, he accommodated him- 
self to every sort of company, and showed how happily the 
most finished courtesy may be blended with the most 
perfect piety. In his conversation, we might be at a loss 
whether to admire most his fine classical taste, his exten- 
sive knowledge of men and things, or his overflowing 
goodness of heart. AVhile the grave and serious were 
charmed with his wisdom, his sportive sallies of innocent 
mirth delighted even the young and thoughtless; and both 
saw, in his uninterrupted cheerfulness, the excellency of 
true religion. ]STb cynical remarks on the levity of youth 
imbittered his discourse; no applausive retrospect to past 
times marked his present discontent. In him even old age 
appeared delightful, like an evening without a cloud; and 
it was impossible to observe him without wishing, fervently, 
'May my latter end be like his!' 

"But I find myself unequal to the task of delineating 
such a character. What I have said may to some appear 
as panegyric; but there are numbers, and those of taste 
and discernment too, who can bear witness to the truth, 
though by no means to the perfectness, of the sketch I have 
attempted. With such I have been frequently in his com- 
pany; and every one of them, I am persuaded, would 
subscribe to all I have said. For my own part, I never 
was so happy as while with him, and scarcely ever felt 
more poignant regret than at parting from him; for well I 
knew 'I ne'er should look upon his like again.' " 

The following account of Mr. Wesley appeared soon 
after his death in a very respectable publication, and was 
afterward inserted in Woodfall's Diary, London, June 17, 
1791: 

"His indefatigable zeal in the discharge of his duty has 
long been witnessed by the world; but, as mankind are not 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



359 



always inclined to put a generous construction on the exer- 
tions of singular talents; his motives were imputed to the 
love of popularity, ambition, and lucre. It now appears 
that he was actuated by a disinterested regard to the im- 
mortal interests of mankind. He labored, and studied, 
and preached, and wrote, to propagate what he believed to 
be the Gospel of Christ. The intervals of these engage- 
ments were employed in governing and regulating the con- 
cerns of his numerous societies; assisting the necessities, 
solving the difficulties, and soothing the afflictions of his 
hearers. He observed so rigid a temperance, and allowed 
himself so little repose, that he seemed to be above the in- 
firmities of nature, and to act independent of the earthly 
tenement he occupied. The recital of the occurrences of 
every day of his life would be the greatest encomium. 

"Had he loved wealth, he might have accumulated it 
without bounds. Had he been fond of power, his influence 
would have been worth courting by any party. I do not 
say he was without ambition; he had that which Chris- 
tianity need not blush at, and which virtue is proud to 
confess. I do not mean that which is gratified by splendor 
and large possessions, but that which commands the hearts 
and affections, the homage and gratitude, of thousands. 
For him they felt sentiments of veneration, only inferior tc 
those which they paid to Heaven: to him they looked as 
their father, their benefactor, their guide to glory and im- 
mortality: for him they fell prostrate before God, with 
prayers and tears, to spare his doom, and prolong his stay. 
Such a recompense as this is sufficient to repay the toils of 
the longest life. Short of this, greatness is contemptible 
impotence. Before this, lofty prelates bow, and princes 
hide their diminished heads. 

"His zeal was not a transient blaze, but a steady and 
constant flame. The ardor of his spirit was neither damped 
by difficulty, nor subdued by age. This was ascribed by 



360 



THE LIFE OF 



himself to the power of divine grace; by the world, to en- 
thusiasm. Be it what it will, it is what philosophers must s 
envy, and infidels respect; it is that which gives energy to 
the soul, and without which there can be no greatness or 
heroism. 

"Why should we condemn that in religion which we 
applaud in every other profession and pursuit? He had a 
vigor and elevation of mind, which nothing but the belief 
of the Divine favor and presence could inspire. This 
threw a luster round his infirmities, changed his bed of 
sickness into a triumphal car, and made his exit resemble 
an apotheosis rather than a dissolution. 

"He was qualified to excel in every branch of literature: 
he was well versed in the learned tongues, in metaphysics, 
in oratory, in logic, in criticism, and every requisite of a 
Christian minister. His style was nervous, clear, and 
manly; his preaching was pathetic and persuasive; his 
journals are artless and interesting; and his compositions 
and compilations to promote knowledge and piety were 
almost innumerable. 

"I do not say he was without faults, or above mistakes; 
but they were lost in the multitude of his excellences and 
virtues. 

" To gain the admiration of an ignorant and superstitious 
age, requires only a little artifice and address; to stand the 
test of these times, when all pretensions to sanctity are 
stigmatized as hypocrisy, is a proof of genuine piety and I 
real usefulness. His great object was, to revive the obso- ; 
lete doctrines and extinguished spirit of the Church of j 
England; and they who are its friends can not be his ene- J 
mies. Yet for this he was treated as a fanatic and impos- 
tor, and exposed to every species of slander and persecu- 
tion. Even bishops and dignitaries entered the lists against 
him; but he never declined the combat, and generally 
proved victorious, He appealed to the Homilies, the 



REV, JOHN WESLEY. 361 

Articles, and the Scriptures, as vouchers for his doctrine; 
and they who could not decide upon the merits of the contro- 
versy, were witnesses of the effects of his labors; and they 
judged of the tree by its fruit. It is true, he did not 
succeed much in the higher walks of life; but that im- 
peached his cause no more than it did that of the first 
planters of the Gospel. However, if he had been capable 
of assuming vanitv on that score, he might have ranked 
among his friends some persons of the first distinction, 
who would have done honor to any party. After surviving 
almost all his adversaries, and acquiring respect among 
those who were the most distant from his principles, he 
lived to see the plant he had reared spreading its branches 
far and wide, and inviting not only these kingdoms, but 
the western world, to repose under its shade. iSo sect, 
since the first ages of Christianity, could boast a founder 
of such extensive talents and endowments. If he had 
been a candidate for literary fame, he might have succeeded 
to his utmost wishes; but he sought not the praise of man; 
he regarded learning: onlv as the instrument of usefulness. 
The great purpose of his life was doing good. For this he 
relinquished all honor and preferment; to this he dedicated 
all his powers of body and mind; at all times and in all 
places, in season and out of season, by gentleness, by 
terror, by argument, by persuasion, by reason, by interest, 
by every motive and every inducement, he strove, with 
unwearied assiduity, to turn men from the error of their 
ways, and awaken them to virtue and religion. To the 
bed of sickness, or the couch of prosperity; to the prison, 
the hospital, the house of mourning, or the house of feast- 
ing, wherever there was a friend to serve, or a soul to 
save, he readily repaired; to administer assistance 01 
advice, reproof or consolation. He thought no office too 
humiliating, no condescension too low, no undertaking too 
arduous, to reclaim the meanest of God's offspring. The 

31 



362 



THE LIFE OF 



souls of all men were equally precious in Ms sight, and the 
value of an immortal creature beyond all estimation. He 
penetrated the abodes of wretchedness and ignorance, to 
rescue the profligate from perdition; and he communicated 
the light of life to those who sat in darkness and the 
shadow of death. He changed the outcasts of society into 
useful members; civilized even savages, and filled those lips 
with prayer and praise that had been accustomed only to 
oaths and imprecations. But as the strongest religious 
impressions are apt to become languid without discipline 
and practice, he divided his people into classes and bands, 
according to their attainments. He appointed frequent 
meetings for prayer and conversation, where they gave an 
account of their experience, their hopes and fears, their 
joys and troubles; by which means they were united to 
each other, and to their common profession. They became 
sentinels upon each other's conduct, and securities for each 
other's character. Thus the seeds he sowed sprang up 
and flourished, bearing the rich fruits of every grace and 
virtue. Thus he governed and preserved his numerous 
societies, watching their improvement with a paternal care, 
and encouraoinof them to be faithful to the end. 

"But I will not attempt to draw his full character, nor 
to estimate the extent of his labors and services. They 
will be best known when he shall deliver up his commission 
into the hands of his great Master." 

The following is a description of Mr. Wesley's person: 
"The figure of Wesley was remarkable. His stature 
was low; his habit of body, in every period of life, the 
reverse of corpulent, and expressive of strict temperance 
and continual exercise; and, notwithstanding his small size, 
his step was firm, and his appearance, till within a few 
years of his death, vigorous and muscular. His face, for 
an old man, was one of the finest we have seen. A clear, 
smooth forehead; an aquiline nose; an eye, the brightest 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



363 



and most piercing that can be conceived; and a freshness 
of complexion, scarcely ever to be found at his years, and 
expressive of the most perfect health, conspired to render 
him a venerable and interesting figure. Few have seen 
him without being struck with his appearance; and many, 
who had been greatly prejudiced against him, have been 
known to change their opinion the moment they were 
introduced into his presence. In his countenance and 
demeanor, there was a cheerfulness mingled with gravity; 
a sprightliness, which was the natural result of an unusual 
flow of spirits, and yet was accompanied with every mark of 
the most serene tranquillity. His aspect, particularly in 
profile, had a strong character of acuteness and penetration. 

"In dress, he was a pattern of neatness and simplicity: 
a narrow, plaited stock; a coat, with a small upright collar; 
no buckles at his knees; no silk or velvet in any part of 
his apparel; and a head as white as snow, gave an idea of 
something primitive and apostolic; while an air of neatness 
and cleanliness was diffused over his whole person." 



CHAPTER XV. 

A few miscellaneous topics remain to be noticed. One 
of the chief reasons why full and willing justice has not 
been always done to the labors of Mr. Wesley, has doubt- 
less arisen from the facts, that, whatever his views might 
be, he raised up a people who, in his lifetime, formed a 
religious body independent of the Church, while yet not 
nominally separated from it; and that since his death, 
although that separation does not affect all the members, 
yet the great mass of the societies, with all the preachers, 
are as completely separated from the Establishment as any 
body of professed Dissenters. That a strict Churchman 



364 



THE LIFE OF 



should consider this as a great counterbalance to the good 
effected b^ Methodism is very natural; and he has a right 
to his opinions, provided he holds them in charity. Still, 
however, Jiis subject is so frequently dwelt upon under 
mistaken and imperfect views, that it demands a few addi- 
tional remarks. 

As far as Mr. "Wesley's character is concerned, enough 
has been said to show the sincerity with which he disavowed 
all intention of separating from the Church, and of making 
his people separatists. This, certainly, notwithstanding 
the freedom of his opinions on Church government, can not 
be charged upon him in the early period of his career; and 
although, in what we may call the second period, he saw 
so strong a tendency to separation that his fears were often 
excited, yet he may surely be allowed still to have pro- 
ceeded straight forward, with perfect honesty of mind, in 
the same course, with more of hope on this subject than of 
fear. Several eminent writers of the Church party have 
thought that even modern Methodism, though existing now 
in a form apparently less friendly to union, might still with 
advantage be attached to the Church, and have seen but 
little difficulty in the project. Why, then, might not Mr. 
Wesley, even after his societies had acquired considerable 
maturity, still hope that those simple institutions for pro- 
moting piety, which he had commenced, might have been 
recognized by the Church, and hoped that the spirit of 
religion, revived already to so great an extent, might still 
farther so influence the members of the Church and its 
clergy, as to dispose them to view his societies with more 
cordiality? He took care, therefore, and all his principles 
and feelings favored the caution, that no obstacles should 
be placed in the way of the closest connection of his socie-; 
ties with the Establishment. Their services were very 
seldom held in the hours of her public service; the Meth 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



365 



odists formed in many parishes the great body of her com- 
municants; thousands of them died in her communion; and 
the preachers were not ordinarily permitted to administer 
either of the sacraments to the people among whom they 
labored. There can be no charge, therefore, against his 
sincerity at this period, any more than in the first. We 
may think his hopes to have been without any foundation; 
and so they proved; and the idea of uniting the modern 
Methodists to the Church is a very visionary one, but has 
doubtless been maintained by several Churchmen with 
great sincerity. Separation from the Church, at a later 
period of Mr. Wesley's life, was certainly anticipated. 
That must be allowed; but an enlightened Churchman 
ought to think that Mr. Wesley's conduct was still worthy 
of praise, not of censure; for when a partial separation was 
in reality foreseen as probable, it had no sanction from 
him, and he appeared determined so to employ his influence 
to his last breath, that if separation did ensue it should 
assume the mildest form possible, and be deprived of all 
feelings of hostility. His example, the spirit of his writ- 
ings, and his advices all tended to this; and the fact is, 
that, though Methodism now stands in a different relation 
to the Establishment than in the days of Mr. Wesley, dis- 
sent has never been formally professed by the body, and for 
obvious reasons. The first is, that the separation of the 
greater part of the society from the Church did not, in any 
great degree, result from the principles assumed by the pro- 
fessed Dissenters, and which are usually made prominent 
in their discussions on the subject of establishments; the 
second, that a considerable number of the Methodists 
actually continue in the communion of the Church of Eng- 
land to this day; and the third, that to leave that com- 
munion is not, in any sense, a condition of membership 
with us. All the services of the Church and her sacra- 

31* 



366 



THE LIFE OF 



ments may be observed by any person in the Wesley an 

societies who chooses it, and they are actually observed by 
many. 

It was owing to these circumstances that Methodism did 
not rush down, but gently glided, into a state of partial 
division from the Church; and this, by neither arousing 
party passions, nor exciting discussions on abstract points 
of Church polity, has left the general feeling of affection 
to- all that is excellent in the Establishment unimpaired. 
No intemperate attacks upon it have been ever sanctioned; 
the attendance of Methodists upon its services was never 
discouraged; and it is surely of some account that a vast 
mass of people throughout the country have been held in 
a state of friendly feeling toward a clergy who have never- 
theless generally treated them with disdain and contumely, 
and many of whom have zealously employed themselves 
in nursing feelings of bigoted dislike to them among their 
friends and neighbors. Yet, after all, the prevalent senti- 
ment of the Methodists, as a body, toward the Establish- 
ment has been that of friendship. It was so when the 
Church was in a lower religious state than it is at present; 
and its more recent religious improvement has not dimin- 
ished the feeling. I may venture to say, that there is a 
warmer regard toward the Church among the body of the 
Methodists now, than there was in the days of Mr. Wesley; 
although there were then more Methodists than at present 
who professed to be of her communion. We have no 
respect at all to her exclusive claims of divine right, or 
her three orders of ministers; and yet have no objection to 
her episcopacy, when Scriptually understood, or her ser- 
vices. We smile at the claim she sometimes assumes to be 
the exclusive instructress of the people, in a country where 
the statute law has given them the right to be taught by 
whom they please, and as explicitly protects dissent as 
conformity; but we rejoice that she has great influence 



REV. JOB.y WESLEY, 



367 



with the mass of the population, whenever that influence 
is used for the promotion of true religion and good morals. 
We wisk her prosperity and perpetuity, as we wish all 
other Christian Churches; and the more so, as we recognize 
in her "the mother of us all/ 5 and can never contemplate, 
without the deepest admiration, her noble army of con- 
fessors and martyrs, and the illustrious train of her divines, 
whose writings have been, and continue to be, the Mg&t of 
Christendom. If Churchmen think this feeling of any 
importance, let them reciprocate it: and though the formal 
union of which some of them have spoken is visionary, a 
still stronger bond of friendship might be established; and 
each might thus become more formidable against the errors 
and evils of the times; for a people who have nearly half 
as manv places of worship in the kingdom as there are 
parish churches, can not be without influence. 

Isor have the true causes which led to the separation of 
the Methodists from the Church been, in general, rightly 
stated. Some of the violent adherents of "the old plan," 

it was called, among ourselves, have, ignorantly or in a 
party spirit, attributed this to the ambition and intrigues 
jf the preachers; but the true causes were, that the clergy, 
jeneroUy, did not preach the doctrines of their own Church 
and of the reformation, and that many of them did not 
adorn their profession by their lives. It may be added, 
chat, in no small number of cases, the clergy were the per- 
secutors and calumniators of the Wesley an societies; that 
che sermons in the churches were often intemperate attacks 
upon their characters and opinions; and that the Methodists 
were frequently regarded as intruders at the table of the 
Lord, rather than as welcome communkants. These were 
the reasons why, long before Mr. Wesley's death, a great 
number of his societies were anxious to have the sacra- 
ments from the hands of their own preachers, under 
whose ministry they were instructed and edified, in whose 



368 



THE LIFE OF 



characters they had confidence, and with respect to whom 
they knew, that if any one disgraced his profession, he 
would not be suffered long to exercise it. 

Such were the true causes which led to the partial sepa- 
ration of the Methodist societies from the communion of 
the Church, after the death of Mr. Wesley; and this is an 
answer to the objection, repeated a thousand times, that 
we have departed from Mr. Wesley's principles. The fact 
is, that though full relief to the consciences of the societies 
in general was refused by Mr. Wesley's authority, yet he 
himself was obliged to allow a relaxation from his own 
rule in London, and some other principal towns, by giving 
the Lord's supper himself, or obtaining pious clergymen to 
administer it in his chapels. After his death it was out of 
the power of the conference, had they not felt the force of 
the reasons urged upon them, to prevent the administration 
of the sacraments to the people by their own preachers. 
Yet in the controversy which this subject excited, specula- 
tive principles had little part. The question stood on plain 
practical grounds: Shall the societies be obliged, from their 
conscientious scruples, to neglect an ordinance of God? 
Or shall we drive them to the Dissenters, whose peculiar 
doctrines they do not believe? Or shall we under certain 
regulations accede to their wishes? So far from Mr. Wes- 
ley's principles and views having lost their influence with 
the conference, the sacraments were forced upon none, and 
recommended to none. The old principles were held as 
fast as higher duties would allow. Many, indeed, of the 
people, and some of the preachers, opposed even these 
concessions; but the plan which was adopted to meet cases 
of conscientious scruple, and yet to avoid encouraging a 
departure from the primitive system, leaving every individ- 
ual to act in this respect as he was persuaded in his 
own mind, and receive the Lord's supper at church or at 
chapel, was at length by both parties in England cordially 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



369 



acquiesced in, as warranted equally by principle and by 
prudence. Assuredly the Church would have gained 
nothing by a different measure, for the dissidents would 
have been compelled to join other communions. Had the 
Church been provided early with an evangelical and a 
holy ministry, that separation would not have taken 
place; for the controversy between the Church and the 
Dissenter was little known, and still less regarded by the 
majority of the Methodist societies at that time; and the 
case is not greatly altered at the present day. The clergy 
had lost their hold upon the people generally, through 
neglect; and that revival of the spirit of truth and holi- 
ness, which we are now so happy to witness among them, 
came too late to prevent the results just stated. 

And what should we do now, if we were disposed to 
revert to the state of things in Mr. Wesley's time? It is 
true we should more rarelv meet with immoral cler^vmen; 
and so that part of the case would be relieved as a matter 
of conscience. But would the Methodist societies meet 
with friendly clergymen; with men who would bear with 
so many communicants, in addition to those who now 
attend their churches? And if they were brought to 
attend the services of their parish churches, would they 
be disposed long to hear those of the clergy who never 
preach the doctrines of the articles of their own Church? 
or those who follow some great names of the present day, 
and neologize as far as decency permits? or those of the 
evangelical party, whose discourses are strongly impreg- 
nated with Calvinism? or those who place their specula- 
tions on the prophecies among the means of grace and 
salvation? Our people would neither hear such clergy- 
men themselves, nor could they conscientiously train up 
their families to listen to what they believe great error: 
and so if we were to go back, as we have been exhorted, 
to Mr. Wesley's first plan, the majority of our people 



370 



THE LIFE OF 



would, as then, neither attend Church nor sacrament, antt 
the same process would have to be repeated again, with 
probably less peaceful results. 

' 'But 'great evil- has resulted to the Church from 
Methodism." This has been often said, certainly never 
substantiated; and this defense of the hostile feeling of 
many Churchmen toward Mr. Wesley and his societies 
stands upon no solid ground. On the contrary, it seems 
not at all difficult to make it plainly appear that great 
good has resulted to the Church, as well as to the nation. 
When this question is under consideration by Churchmen, 
they look at the mere fact that a great body of people 
have been raised up, as they say, out of the Church, 
within a century past, excelling in number almost, if not 
entirely, the whole of the old bodies of Dissenters; and 
they assume that if the Wesleys and Mr. Whitefield had 
never appeared, the Church would have been in as im- 
proved a state as now, with none but the old Dissenters to 
contend with. There is great fallacy in both these views, 
which merits to be pointed out. 

When the Messrs. Wesley, Mr. Whitefield, and their 
early coadjutors entered upon their itinerant career, it is 
a matter of fact and history, that no general plans for the 
illumination of the nation were either in operation or in 
the contemplation of any one. Nothing had this bearing. 
There were no persons associated in such institutions of 
any kind, making this a common object. The pious 
labors of a few zealous clergymen— and few they were — 
and of the ministers of other denominations, were confined 
to their own parishes and congregations. There were no 
means of general application in existence, to remove the 
ignorance and correct the vices which were almost uni- 
versal. The measures taken by the founders of Method- 
ism to correct existing evils were on a large scale. They 
acted in concert; they conceived noble designs. They 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



371 



visited the large towns; they labored in the populous 
mining, manufacturing, and commercial districts; they 
preached in places of public resort; they formed religious 
societies, and inspired them with zeal for the instruction 
and salvation of their neighbors; they employed men of 
zeal, character, and competent acquaintance with practi- 
cal and experimental religion, to assist them in this work 
as it widened before them; and they gave it their vigilant 
superintendence. The benefits they were the means of 
producing were not confined to individuals; they influ- 
enced whole neighborhoods. Religious knowledge was 
spread, and religious influence exerted. The manners of 
the rude were civilized; barbarous sports and pastimes 
fell greatly into disuse; and a higher standard of morals 
was erected, of itself of no small importance to the ref- 
ormation of manners. 

It is a matter of history, that, beside those means which 
•were afforded by their personal labors, and by the auxil- 
iaries they brought forward to their assistance, in order to 
revive and extend the spirit of religion in the nation, for a 
great number of years no other means of extensive appli- 
cation were employed to promote this end. The effects 
which were thus produced began, however, after a consid- 
erable time had elapsed, to operate collaterally as well as 
directly. Many of the clergy were aroused, and the doc- 
trines of the Articles and the Homilies began to be heard 
iflore distinctly and more frequently in their pulpits. 
Holy and zealous men in different denominations began 
to labor for the public instruction and reformation. The 
institution of Sunday schools, though devised by a Church- 
man, was, at first, but slowly encouraged. The Method- 
ists and Dissenters were carrying those schools to a great 
extent when the members of the Church followed: some 
from a fear, laudable enough, lest the body of the poor 
should be alienated from the Establishment; others, as 



372 



THE LIFE OF 



perceiving in the institution the means of conveying in- 
struction and religious influence to those who most needed 
them. The circulation of the Scriptures by Bible soci- 
eties followed; but still that was an effect of the new 
order of principles and feelings which had been introduced 
into the nation. These principles of zeal for the moral 
improvement of society farther led, at a later period, to 
general measures for the education of the poor by the two 
great national education societies, which promise so much 
benefit to the country. All these efforts for enlightening 
and moralizing the people may be traced to several inter- 
mediate causes; but it is only justice to the memory of 
such men as the Wesleys and Whitefield, men so often 
flippantly branded as enthusiasts, to state, that they all 
primarily sprung from that spirit, which, under God, they 
were the means of exciting in a slumbering Church, and 
in a dark and neglected land. This is a point not to be 
denied; for long before any of those efforts for public 
instruction and reformation which could be considered 
national were called forth, those aspersed men were pur- 
suing their gigantic labors among the profligate population 
of London, and of the principal towns of the kingdom; 
among the miners of Cornwall, the colliers of Kingswood 
and Newcastle, and the manufacturers of Yorkshire and 
Lancashire; while the preachers they employed were 
every year spreading themselves into dark, semi-barbar- 
ous villages in the most secluded parts of the kingdom; 
enduring bitter privations, and encountering, almost daily, 
the insults of rude mobs, that they might convey to them 
the knowledge of religion. 

Now, in order to judge of these efforts, and to ascertain 
what "evil" has resulted to the Church of England from 
Mr. Wesley's measures, it is but fair to consider what the 
state of the country and of the Church must in all human 
probability have been, had he and his associates never 



. JOHN "WESLEY. 



373 



appeared, or confined themselves to the obscurity of Ep- 
worth and similar parishes. It is not denied that other 
means and agents might have been raised up by God to 
effect the purposes of his mercy; but it is denied that 
any such were raised up — for this is matter of fact. ISo 
agency has appeared in the Church, or out of it, tending 
to the general instruction and evangelizing of the nation, 
and operating on a large scale, which is not much subse- 
quent in its origin to the exertions of the Messrs. Wesley 
and White fie Id, and which may not be traced to the spirit 
which they excited, and often into the very bosoms of 
those who derived their first light and influence, either 
directly or indirectly, from them. What was and not 
what might have been, can only be made the ground of 
argument. 

But for their labors, therefore, and the labors of those 
persons in the Church, among the Dissenters, and their 
own people, whom they imbued with the same spirit, that 
state of things in the Church of England, and in the coun- 
try at large, which has been already described, must have 
continued, at least, for many years, for any thing which 
appears to the contrary; for no substitute for their exer- 
tions was supplied by any party. They took the place of 
none who were exerting themselves: they opposed no 
obstacle to the operation of any plan of usefulness, had 
it been in preparation. If they, therefore, had not ap- 
peared, and kindled that flame of religious feeling which 
ultimately spread into many denominations of Christians, 
and thus gave birth to that variety of effort which now 
diffuses itself through the land, it is a very erroneous 
conclusion to suppose, that a later period would have 
found the nation and the Church at all improved. The 
probability, almost amounting to certainty, is, that both 
would have been found still more deteriorated, and in a 
state which would have presented obstacles much more 

32 



374 



THE LIFE OF 



formidable to their recovery. For all who have given 
attention to such subjects must know, that a number of 
those demoralizing causes were then coming into opera- 
tion, which, with all the counteractions since supplied by 
the Church, and the different religious sects, by schools, 
and by Bibles, have produced very injurious effects upon 
the morals and principles of the nation; that the tide of 
an unprecedented commercial prosperity began then to 
flow into the country, and continued, for a long succes- 
sion of years, to render the means of sensual indulgence 
more ample, and to corrupt more deeply all ranks of 
society; that, in consequence of the independence thus 
given to the lower orders in many of the most pop- 
ulous districts, the moral control and influence of the 
higher became gradually weaker; that the agitation of 
political subjects, during the American quarrel and the 
French revolution, with the part which even the operative 
classes were able to take in such discussions by means of 
an extended education, produced, as will always be the 
case among the half-informed, a strong tendency to re- 
publicanism, a restless desire of political change on every 
pinching of the times, and its constant concomitant, an 
aversion to the National Establishment, partly as the 
result of ill-digested theories, and partly because this 
feeling was encouraged by the negligent habits of many 
of the clergy, and the absence of that influence which 
they might have acquired in their parishes by careful 
pastoral attentions. To all this is to be added the diffu- 
sion of infidel principles, both of foreign and home 
growth, which, from the studies of the learned, descended 
into the shop of the mechanic, and, embodied in cheap 
and popular works, found their way into every part of 
the empire. To counteract agencies and principles so 
active and so pernicious, it is granted that no means have 
jet been applied of complete adequacy. This is the 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



375 



reason why their effects are so rife in the present day, 
and that we are now in the midst of a state of things 
which no considerate man can contemplate without some 
anxiety. These circumstances, so devastating to morals 
and good principles, could only have been fully neutralized 
by the ardent exertions of every clergyman in his parish, 
of every dissenting minister in his congregation, of every 
Methodist preacher in his circuit, of every private Chris- 
tian in his own circle, or in the place which useful and 
pious institutions of various kinds would have assigned 
him; and even then the special blessing of God would 
have been necessary to give effect to the whole. But had 
no correctives been applied, what had been the present 
state of the nation and of the Church? The labors of 
the founders of Methodism were, from the beginning, 
directly counteractive of the evils just mentioned; and 
those have little reason to stigmatize them who deplore 
such evils most, and yet have done least for their correc- 
tion and restraint. Wherever these men went, they 
planted the principles of religion in the minds of the 
multitudes who heard them: they acted on the offensive 
against immorality, infidelity, and error; the societies they 
raised were employed in doing good to all; the persons 
^they associated with them in the work of national refor- 
mation were always engaged in diffusing piety; and though 
great multitudes were beyond their reach, they spread 
themselves into every part of the land, turning the atten- 
tion of men to religious concerns, calming their passions, 
guarding them against the strifes of the world, enjoining 
the Scriptural principles of obedience to magistrates," 
and a sober, temperate, peaceable, and benevolent con- 
duct. The direct effect of their exertions was great; and 
it increased in energy and extent as the demoralizing 
causes before mentioned acquired also greater activity; 
and when their indirect influence began to appear more 



376 



THE LIFE OF 



fully in the National Church, and in other religious bodies, 
remedies more commensurate with the evils existing in the 
country began to be applied. I shall not affect to say 
what would have been the state of the Church of England 
under the uncontrolled operation of all the causes of moral 
deterioration, and civil strife, to which I have adverted; 
or what hold that Church would have had upon the people 
at this day, if the spirit of religion had not been revived in 
the country, and if, when ancient prejudices were de- 
stroyed or weakened by the general spread of information 
among men, no new bond between it and the nation at 
large had been created. But if, as I am happy to believe, 
the National Church has much more influence and much 
more respect now than formerly, and if its influence and 
the respect due to it are increasing with the increase of its 
evangelical clergy, all this is owing to the existence of a 
stronger spirit of piety; and in producing that, the first 
great instruments were the men whose labors have been 
mentioned in the preceding pages. Not only has the 
spirit which they excited improved the religious state of 
the Church, but it has disposed the gre&t body of religious 
people, not of the Church, to admire and respect those 
numerous members of the Establishment, both clergymen 
and laics, whose eminent piety, talents, and usefulness, 
have done more to abate the prejudices arising from dif- 
ferent views of Church government, than a thousand 
treatises could have effected, however eloquently written, 
or ably argued. 

It may also be asked, Who are the persons whom the 
Methodists have alienated from the Church? In this, too, 
the Church writers have labored under great mistakes. 
They have " alienated" those, for the most part, who never 
were, in any substantial sense, and never would have been, 
of the Church. Yery few of her pious members have at 
any time been separated from her communion by a con- 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



37? 



nee don with us; and many who became serious through 
the Methodist ministry, continued attendants on her serv- 
ices, and observers of her sacraments. This was the case 
during the life of Mr. Wesley, and in many instances is so 
still; and when an actual separation of a few persons has 
occurred, it has been much more than compensated by a 
return of others from us to the Church, especially of opu- 
lent persons, or their children, in consequence of that 
superior influence which an established Church must 
always exert upon people of that class. For the rest, they 
have been brought chiefly from the ranks of the ignorant 
and the careless; persons who had little knowledge, and 
no experience of the power of religion: negligent of relig- 
ious worship of every kind, and many of whom, but for 
the agency of Methodism, would have swelled the ranks 
of those who are equally disaffected to Church and state, 
tf such persons are not now Churchmen, they are influ- 
enced bv no feelings hostile to the institutions of their 
country. 

Such considerations may tend to convey more sober 
views on a subject often taken up in heat: that they will 
quite disarm the feeling against which they are leveled is 
more than can be hoped for, considering the effects of 
party spirit, and the many forms of virtue which it simu- 
lates. However, it is nothing new for the Methodists to 
endure reproach, and to be subject to misrepresentations. 
Perhaps something of an exclusive spirit may have grown 
up among us in consequence; but, if so, it has this pallia- 
tion, that we are quite as expansive as the circumstances 
m which we have ever been placed could lead any reason- 
able man to anticipate. It might almost be said of us, 
"Lo, the people shall dwell alone." The high Churchman 
has persecuted us because we are separatists; the high 
Dissenter has often looked upon us with hostility, because 
we would not see that an establishment necessarily, and 

32* 



378 



THE LIFE OF 



in se — in itself — involved a sin against the supremacy of 
Christ; the rigid Calvinist has disliked us because we hold 
the redemption of all men; the Pelagianized Arminian, 
because we contend for salvation by grace; the Antinomian, 
because we insist upon the perpetual obligation of the moral 
law; the moralist, because we exalt faith; the disaffected, 
because we hold that loyalty and religion are inseparable; 
the political tory, because he can not think that separatists 
from the Church can be loyal to the throne; the philoso- 
pher, because he deems us fanatics; while semi-infidel 
liberals generally exclude us from all share in their lib- 
erality, except it be in their liberality of abuse. In the 
mean time we have occasionally been favored with a smile, 
though somewhat of a condescending one, from the lofty 
Churchman; and often with a fraternal embrace from pious 
and liberal Dissenters: and if we act upon the principles 
left us by our great founder, we shall make a meek and 
lowly temper an essential part of our religion; and, after 
his example, move onward in the path of doing good, 
through ' ' honor and dishonor, through evil report and 
good report," remembering that one fundamental principle 
of Wesleyan Methodism is anti-sectarianism and a cath- 
olic spirit. 

To return, however, to Mr. Wesley: Among the cen- 
sures which have been frequently directed against him, 
are his alleged love of power, and his predulity. The first 
is a vice; the second but a weakness; and they stand there- 
fore upon different grounds. 

As to the love of power, it may be granted that, like 
many minds who seem born to direct, he desired to acquire 
influence; and, when he attained it, he employed his one 
talent so as to make it gain more talents. If he had loved 
power for its own sake, or to minister to selfish purposes, 
or to injure others, this would have been a great blemish; 
but he sacrificed no principle of his own, and no interest 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



379 



or right of others, for its gratification. He gained power, 
as all great and good men gain it, by the very greatness 
and goodness with which they are endowed, and of which 
others are always more sensible than themselves. It de- 
volved upon him without any contrivance; and when he 
knew he possessed it, no instance is on record of his having 
abused it. This is surely virtue, not vice, and virtue of 
the highest order. The only proof attempted to be given 
that he loved power, is, that he never devolved his au- 
thority over the societies upon others; but this is capable 
of an easy explanation. He could not have shared his 
power among many, without drawing up a formal constitu- 
tion of Church government for his societies, which would 
have amounted to a formal separation from the Church; 
and it would have been an insane action had he devolved 
it upon one, and placed himself, and the work he had 
effected under the management of any individual to whom 
his societies could not stand in the same filial relation as 
to himself. He, however, exercised his influence by aid 
of the counsel of others; and allowed the free discussion 
of all prudential matters in the conference. Had he been 
armed with legal power to inflict pains and penalties, he 
ought to have distrusted himself, as every wise and good 
man would do, and to have voluntarily put himself beyond 
the reach of temptation to abuse what mere man, without 
check, can seldom use aright. This I grant; but the con- 
trol to which he was subject was, that the union of his 
societies with him was perfectly voluntary, so that over 
them he could have no influence at all but what was 
founded upon character, and public spirit, and fatherly 
affection. The power which he exercised has descended 
to the conference of preachers; and, as in his case, this 
has been often very absurdly complained of, as though it 
were parallel to the power of civil government, or to that 
of an established Church, supported by statutes and the 



380 



THE LIFE OF 



civil arm. But this power, like his, is moral influence 
only, founded upon the pastoral character, and can exist 
only upon the basis of the confidence inspired by the fact 
of its generally just and salutary exercise among a people 
who neither are nor can be under any compulsion.* 

On the charge of credulity, it may be observed, that 
Mr. Wesley lived in an age in which he thought men in 
danger of believing too little, rather than too much, and 
his belief in apparitions is at least no proof of a credulous- 
ness peculiar to himself. With respect to the "strange 
accounts' ! which he inserted in his Magazine, and strange 
indeed some of them were, it has been falsely assumed 
that he himself believed them entirely. This is not true. 
He frequently remarks, that he gives no opinion, or that 
"he knows not what to make of the account/' or that "he 
leaves every one to form his own judgment concerning it." 
He met with those relations in reading; or received them 
from persons deemed by him credible, and he put them on 
record as facts reported to have happened. Now, as to an 
unbeliever, one sees not what sound objection he can make 
to that being recorded which has commanded the faith of 
others; for, as a part of the history of human opinions, 
such accounts are curious, and have their use. It neither 
followed, that the editor of the work believed every ac- 
count, nor that his readers should consider it true because 
it was printed. It was for them to judge of the evidence 
on which the relation stood. Many of these accounts, 
however, Mr. Wesley did credit, because he thought that 
they stood on credible testimony; and he published them 

[* This topic is one on which the calumniators of Methodism in America* 
also have often harped. The just and obvious view of it so forcibly ex- 
hibited above by Mr. Watson, has been repeatedly presented, too, in 
answer to the croakers in this country. It is one which can neither be 
misapprehended nor resisted, except by sheer ignorance, or by an invinci- 
ble determination to persist in calumny for its own sake. — AMERICAN 
Edit.] 



KEV. JOHN WESLEY*. 



38' 



for that very purpose, for which he believed they were per- 
mitted to occur — to confirm the faith of men in an invisible 
state, and in the immortality of the soul. These were his 
motives for inserting such articles in his Magazine; and to 
the censure which has been passed upon him on this 
account, may be opposed the words of the learned Dr. 
Henry More, in his Letter to Glanville, the author of 
*' Sadducismus Triurwphatus [Sadducism triumphed 
over:] "Wherefore let the small philosophic Sir Toplings 
of this present age deride as much as they will, those that 
lay out their pains in committing to writing certain well- 
attested stories of apparitions, do real service to true 
religion and sound philosophy; and they most effectually 
contribute to the confounding of infidelity and Atheism, 
even in the judgment of the Atheists themselves, who are 
as much afraid of the truth of these stories as an ape is 
of a whip, and, therefore, force themselves with might and 
main to disbelieve them, by reason of the dreadful conse- 
quence of them, as to themselves." It is sensibly observed 
by Jortin, in his remarks on the diabolical possessions in 
the age of our Lord, that "one reason for which divine 
Providence should suffer evil spirits to exert their malig- 
nant powers at that time, might be to give a check to 
Sadducism among the Jews, and Atheism among the 
Gentiles, and to remove in some measure these two great 
impediments to the reception of the Gospel." For moral 
uses, supernatural visitations may have been allowed in 
subsequent ages; and he who believes in them, only 
spreads their moral the farther by giving them publicity. 
Before such a person can be fairly censured, the ground 
of his faith ought to be disproved, for he only acts con- 
sistently with that faith. This task would, however, prove 
somewhat difficult. 

Mr. Wesley was a voluminous writer; and as he was one 
of the great instruments in reviving the spirit of religion 



382 



THE LIFE OF 



in these lands, so he led the way in those praiseworthy 
attempts which have been made to diffuse useful informa- 
tion of every kind, and to smooth the path of knowledge 
to the middle and lower ranks of society. Beside books 
on religious subjects, he published many small and cheap 
treatises on various branches of science; plain and excel- 
lent grammars of the dead languages; expurgated editions 
of the classic authors; histories, civil and ecclesiastical; 
and numerous abridgments of important works.* 

It is his especial praise, that he took an early part in 
denouncing the iniquities of the African slave-trade, and 
in arousing the conscience of the nation on the subject. 
In Bristol, at that time a dark den of slave-traders, he> 
courageously preached openly against it, defying the rage 
of the slave merchants and the mob; and his spirited and 
ably-reasoned tract on slavery continues to be admired 
and quoted to the present time. It may be added, that 
one of the last letters he ever wrote was to Mr. Wilber- 
force, exhorting him to perseverance in a work, of which 
he was one of the leading instruments — the effecting the 
abolition of the traffic in the nerves and blood of man. 

* Mr. Wesley's principal writings are, his Translation of the New 
Testament, with Explanatory Notes, quarto; his Journals, 6 vols., duo- 
decimo; his Sermons, 9 volumes, duodecimo; his Appeal to Men of 
Reason and Religion; his defense of the Doctrine of Original Sin, in 
Answer to Dr. Taylor; his answers to Mr. Church, and Bishops Lavington 
and Warburton ; and his Predestination Calmly Considered, beside many 
smaller tracts on various important subjects. His works were published 
by himself in thirty-two volumes, duodecimo, in the year 1771. An edi- 
tion of them in fourteen large octavo volumes has just been completed; 
with his work on the New Testament in two volumes of the same size. 
In addition to his original compositions, Mr. Wesley published up?/ard 
of a hundred and twenty different works, mostly abridged from o- her 
authors; among which are grammars in five different languages; the C* ris- 
tian Library, in fifty duodecimo volumes; thirteen volumes of the Vr- 
minian Magazine; a History of England, and a general Ecclesias*' ral 
History, in four volumes each; a Compendium of Natural Philosophy in 
five volumes; and an Exposition of the Old Testament, in three qu S 
volumes. 



REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



383 



At the time of Mr. Wesley's death, the number of mem- 
bers in connection with him in Europe, America, and the 
West India Islands, was 80,000. At the last conference, 
1830, the numbers returned were, in Great Britain 249,278; 
in Ireland 22,897; in the foreign missions 41,186; total 
313,360, exclusive of near half a million of persons in the 
societies in the states of America. As to the field of la- 
bor at home, the number of circuits in the United King- 
dom was, at the time of his death, 115. At present they 
are 399. The number of mission stations was 8 in the 
West Indies, and 8 in British America: at present there 
are 150. The number of preachers left by him was 312. 
It is now 993, in the United Kingdom; and 193 in the 
foreign missions. In the United States of America the 
number of preachers is about 2,000. 

Such have been the results of the labors of this great 
and good man. Whether they are still to diffuse a hal- 
lowing influence through the country, and convey the 
blessings of Christianity to heathen lands with the same 
rapidity and with the same vigor, will, under the Divine 
blessing, depend upon those who have received from him 
the trust of a system of religious agency, to be employed 
with the same singleness of heart, the same benevolent 
zeal for the spiritual benefit of mankind, and the same 
dependence upon the Holy Spirit. I know not that it bears 
upon it any marks of decay, although it may require to be 
accommodated, in a few particulars, to the new circum- 
stances with which it is surrounded. The doctrinal views 
which Mr. Wesley held, were probably never better under- 
stood, or more accurately stated in the discourses of the 
preachers; and the moral discipline of the body, in all its 
essential parts, was never more cordially approved by the 
people generally, or enforced with greater faithfulness by 
their pastors. Yery numerous are the converts who are 
every year won from the world, brought under religious 



384 



THE LIFE OF REV. JOHN WESLEY. 



influence, and placed in the enjoyment of means and 
ordinances favorable to their growth in religious knowledge 
and holy habits; and many are constantly passing into 
eternity, of whose "good hope through grace," the testi- 
mony is in the highest degree satisfactory. If Methodism 
continue in vigor and purity to future ages, it will still be 
associated with the name of its founder, and encircle his 
memory with increasing luster; and if it should fall into 
the formality and decays which have proved the lot of 
many other religious bodies, he will not ]ose his reward. 
Still a glorious harvest of saved souls is laid up in the 
heavenly garner, which will be his "rejoicing in the day 
of the Lord;" while the indirect influence of his labors 
upon the other religious bodies and institutions of the 
country will justly entitle him to be considered as one of 
the most honored instruments of reviving and extending 
the influence of religion that, since the time of the apostles, 
have been raised up by the providence of God. 



THE END. 



3477-9 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper procej 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2006 

PreservationTechnologie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIC 1 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



